My-Ukraina: How to Create a Media Holding in the Third Year of War

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In 2.5 years, the channel of employees of Akhmetov's closed media assets has turned into a media holding with no obvious sources of funding (except for the state).

The My-Ukraina (“We Are Ukraine”) channel appeared in the first year after the full-scale invasion, allegedly on the initiative and at the expense of some former employees of Akhmetov's closed media group. In the third year of the war, it grew into a full-fledged media group. It now has two digital nationwide channels, a radio station with a frequency in the capital and plans to expand to other regional centres.

In August 2022, the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) transferred the seized Channel 4, owned by the collaborator MP Kovalyov, to the State Film Agency. A few days later, the agency announced the creation of another state broadcaster. ‘There is a court ruling, and ARMA is transferring them (the assets of Channel 4 - DM) to us for safekeeping. It is not yet under our management, although it is planned. When this happens, there will be another state-owned channel, which will still be broadcast in a telethon. But we hope for the soonest victory for our country, after which it will continue to develop as a full-fledged state TV channel,’ said Maryna Kuderchuk, the then-head of the State Film Agency. After this interview, there was no mention of a new state channel that would also broadcast the Unified News telethon.

Instead, two months later, in November 2022, a new channel, My-Ukraina, was launched and began producing the telethon, which was positioned as a private initiative of former employees of Akhmetov's media group and political strategist Ihor Petrenko. 

The team was formed by Yuriy Suhak, the former head of the information service of Ukraina. According to Youcontrol, Yuriy Suhak, Lyudmyla Dobrovolska, Olena Tsyntyla, Oleh Paniuta, Volodymyr Kovalenko and Ihor Pupkov, each own 3.4-3.5% of My-Ukraina LLC.

Initially, the charter capital was one thousand hryvnias. However, within a year, it had grown to ten million, and each of the co-founders added four zeros to their 34-35 UAH.

The beneficial owner with a 79.5% stake is Ihor Petrenko. He did not work for Akhmetov's media group but collaborated with other media outlets, such as the Apostrophe TV channel and the online publication Komentari. As a political commentator, he participated in socio-political programmes and was the editor-in-chief of the online publication Realist.online. He is also the Director of the Domestic Policy Department at the International Center for Policy Studies.

The My-Ukraina channel was lucky in October 2022. The team announced the launch of the project on YouTube and a few days later received a satellite licence and, a few weeks later, permission to broadcast digitally. Then, the channel joined the telethon producers and received money from the state—money that was already available to survive on. Even according to the simplest estimates, the operation of such a channel costs up to several million hryvnias a month.

A year later, in the autumn of 2023, the channel won the tender and received a licence to broadcast in the state-owned MX-7 multiplex. A few weeks later, the channel won a tender to launch a new entertainment channel in the private multiplex of Zeonbud.

This broadcaster is registered with another legal entity, Streamline Media LLC. According to the register, it was created after the renaming of Sandstrom LLC, which belonged to Iryna Dubovyk and was engaged in the extraction of sand, gravel and clay. In April 2023, the company changed its name, type of activity to broadcasting, as well as its owner and manager. It was the same Ihor Petrenko. The company's authorised capital is UAH 500 thousand.

In 2023, even before the channel's launch, the company had revenue of UAH 12.6 million (net profit of UAH 9.7 million). Of these, liabilities amounted to UAH 12 million. Reports for 2024 have not yet been made public. My-Ukraina+ was launched on 10 February 2024. In the autumn, it was released with a full season, premieres, and plans to make a series.

The next step was to create a radio station, and My-Ukraina quickly received a radio frequency resource. In June, the radio station was given a frequency in Kyiv at a tender held by the National Council. To launch the radio station, Ihor Petrenko, the owner of the My-Ukraina channels, purchased the company Glas Media LLC from Vasyl Filipchuk, the owner of the Apostrophe TV project. It was this company that submitted the documents for the tender.

The radio station was represented at the competition by Yuriy Suhak, who said that the team of the media outlet My-Ukraina employs many experts who know how to make radio. According to him, the company has a powerful Kyiv editorial office (15 correspondents). ‘We know how to adapt content from different platforms to radio,’ said Suhak.

Ihor Petrenko said that the company has all the infrastructure to launch (premises, equipment, employees). The radio station plans to make money from classical advertising, native advertising and sponsorship. In addition, the company is ready to produce customised commercials.

‘We also plan to organise events, concerts and other activities. Ticket sales, webinars and online events, monetisation of these events, and digital platforms. Our YouTube channel already has more than 600,000 subscribers,' said Ihor Petrenko.

It is worth noting that during the tender, Deputy Chairman of the National Council Oleh Chernysh asked the company: ‘Limit your work to Kyiv. There is no need to build a nationwide network because there are no frequencies.’ But, as it is said, when you need it, the frequencies are there. My-Ukraina decided to expand its network and is now participating in a radio competition for Zaporizhzhia.

In times of war, such a rapid rise cannot be a coincidence and cannot happen without the consent and support of the authorities. The channels of the My-Ukraina group are associated with the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak. The broadcaster is even called ‘Alla Borysivna's channel’. In turn, Andriy Yermak is known as ‘Alla Borysivna’ among the military, MPs and on the sidelines of the Presidential Office, as his initials are A.B.

The beneficial owner, Ihor Petrenko, denied any connection with Yermak in an interview with Detector Media: ‘No official has any influence on the work of My-Ukraina and My-Ukraina+ TV channels. The independence of the channels is ensured by adherence to journalistic standards and the editorial policy agreed upon by the staff.’ He also said that he had never worked with and was not personally acquainted with the head of the Presidential Office. He also denied any cooperation with Akhmetov's companies, as some sources reported that the oligarch, in agreement with the authorities, donated money to this media asset (Akhmetov's SCM company denies this).

Ihor Petrenko's words about the lack of communication with the President's Office can be questioned simply because, in the same interview with Detector Media in March 2024, he denied that the channel was using the technique of Channel 4. But as it turned out later, it does. In response to a request from Detector Media, Deputy Head of the State Film Agency Maksym Aleksandrov said that the State Film Agency had entered into an agreement on the temporary use of the property of the legal entity Channel 4 (TRK Interradio LLC) on 16 September 2022 with My Ukraine LLC and transferred part of the property for commercial use (this happened 12 days after the head of the State Film Agency Maryna Kuderchuk announced her intention to create a state channel). This agreement was still in force as of November 2024.

According to Detector Media's sources, Serhiy Sozanovsky, a member of the Supervisory Board of Inter Group and co-owner of Film.ua, was also the curator of My-Ukraina+ at the request of the authorities. It was also allegedly the Inter Group, headed by the head of the distribution department, Denys Vasyanovych, who initially sold the channel to providers. As a reminder, Inter Media Group, in addition to its own channels, distributes other broadcasters (for example, Rybalka TV, Now series, Fashion TV, Fashion TV UA, Inraiting). However, the My-Ukraina channel later decided to work independently with the network and hired the relevant specialists.

However, the My-Ukraina TV channel denied the information about Serhiy Sozanovsky. ‘The idea of launching the My-Ukraina+ TV channel was the result of internal discussions within the team and was initiated by My-Ukraina General Producer Yuriy Suhak. All key decisions on the format, concept and broadcasting network were made exclusively within the group's management, which allowed us to keep the details of the process confidential until the official launch. Serhiy Sozanovsky is a well-known media manager, and we would have been happy to work with him. However, Mr Sozanovsky did not advise the channel when it was created,’ the press service replied to Detector Media.

The team of the My-Ukraina channel is largely made up of employees of Akhmetov's former Ukraina holding. The production of the marathon involves mainly representatives of the former Ukraina 24 channel, while people from the media group and beyond work on the entertainment content. Because the situation with personnel in the market is quite fluid. A year and a half after the media group was closed, most of the employees found new jobs. Natalia Strybuk, a former chief producer of the film series production department at Ukraina TV channel, became the general producer of My-Ukraine+. Roman Nedzelskyi, a former producer at Kyiv TV channel, is working on the morning show Prokrydaisya!

Among the channel's consultants was Volodymyr Martynets, author and actor of Studio Kvartal-95. In a publication about the marathon, Ukrayinska Pravda wrote that Martynets manages some of the TV channel's projects. He participated in the projects Vechirniy Kvartal, Liga Smikhu, etc. At Detector Media's request, the channel's press service confirmed that he advises some My-Ukraina+ projects.

The channel also works with staff from channels that once belonged to Medvedchuk. However, this is a major reputational risk, which once even disrupted the launch of Vitaliy Kropachov's Ukraine World News channel. The channels My-Ukraina and My-Ukraina+ cooperated with a company whose contractor was Pavlo Yegorychev, who previously worked as a manager of Taras Kozak's media group and director of legal entities of the Pershyi Nezalezhnyi and 112 channels (Time Media LLC, Novy Format TV LLC and TV Vybir LLC). This information was confirmed to Detector Media by the co-owner of the channels, Ihor Petrenko. Sources of Detector Media reported that Pavlo Yegorychev works at the My-Ukraina TV channel in the legal department. However, Ihor Petrenko denied this information. ‘Pavlo Yegorychev does not work for our channels, but I am familiar with his name. Our company used legal services where Pavlo was among the contractors,’ he said.

According to Detector Media's sources, Oleh Shostal, who has been working for Kropachov's channel, earlier for 112 since 2015 and previously headed the legal department of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting, is responsible for the distribution of My-Ukraina channel and the development of the network. According to our information, it was Oleh Shostal, together with his colleague Serhiy Dubinkin, who started their own distribution of the channel and strengthened its network. Earlier, as we mentioned above, it was sold on the pay-TV market as part of the Inter Group package. According to one of DM's sources, this is a rather risky decision, as it is now more efficient to offer channels to providers as part of a package deal.

The press service of My-Ukraina confirmed that Oleh Shostal works on the channel's broadcasting network. Serhiy Dubinkin does not work for the channel but provides distribution services.

Last autumn, My-Ukraina+ launched its first TV season. As expected, it started with premieres. Not yet with series, but with original content.

The season started with the show Rozryad, in which participants were electrocuted while answering questions and had to figure out why. As DM already wrote, this format was invented and produced by the Stadium Family creative association. It mainly consists of Kvartal members and Liga Smikhu makers, including Kyrylo Hanin, Ihor Lastochkin, Yevhen Koshovyi, and others. The company has launched eight entertainment shows, two of which, Rozryad and Mizh Namy, were bought by My-Ukraina+. The first season of Rozryad was broadcast on YouTube.

The documentary project ‘Shield of Europe’ was filmed by Kinokit LLC, the producer of the marathon for the state-owned Rada TV channel. The channel's nightly slots include broadcasts from the United News marathon and Army TV.

By the way, the My-Ukraina+ channel has projects from the Inter Group's library (for example, Rechdok and Kamon travel).

Immediately after the launch of the My-Ukraina+ entertainment channel, Ihor Petrenko said the group intended to order the production of the series, possibly in cooperation with OTT platforms. This is one of the most expensive content genres. The fact that the channel is currently not short of money is also evidenced by the PR campaign in the Kyiv metro for the new intellectual and extreme show ‘Game on Nerves’, with Oleksandr Pedan as its host.

A logical question arises: where does the money come from? If My-Ukraina has money from the budget to produce the marathon, how will the second channel exist? In March last year, the owner, Ihor Petrenko, answered DM as follows: ‘Financing is very difficult, especially nowadays. Currently, the funding of My-Ukraina+ TV channel depends to a greater extent on the success of negotiations with possible project sponsors and advertisers.’

He mentioned energy companies' investments in the National Council competitions, but in an interview, he explained that the mention of energy companies was given as a successful and already implemented example of attracting advertisers: ‘We offer various formats of cooperation for our advertisers, trying to cover the entire range of advertising activities permitted by law on the TV channel and on digital platforms. We are considering new opportunities offered by the legalisation of product placement, and we expect to use this advertising format in the products we create. That is why we are open to advertisers from various industries.’

To attract advertisers, you need to produce a highly rated product.

‘We set an ambitious goal to bring viewers back to TV screens, and we are confident that we will succeed,’ said Ihor Petrenko, describing the plans ahead of the autumn season.

According to the results of 2024, the channel is among the top twenty in the 18-54 audience, with a rating of 0.05% and a share of 0.46% (TV panel data provided by Dentsu Ukraine). This is on par with K2 and Suspilne Kyiv. However, these are average figures for the year, which means they take into account five months when the channel was not in the panel. Measurements began in June, and all the time My-Ukraina+ has been growing. The highest figures were in November 2024 — a rating of 0.13% and a share of 1.2%. This is already the level of K1, Otse and Mega, which, however, do not have the luxury of large shows and series of their own.

The channel's most popular broadcasts include the historical programme What's Wrong with Nazar Hassan, Frontline, White Threads, Catastrophes, Rechdok and film content such as The Hungry Rabbit Attacks and the series Sea Patrol.

The channel's performance is not bad, considering that it is a new broadcaster that has been on air for only a year. However, these figures do not match the group's ambitions at all: for example, the net profit of My-Ukraina LLC (according to the register, the company's revenue for the third quarter of 2024 was UAH 56.98 million, profit was UAH 11 million) is enough to pay for the signal of one channel. But the group has two, plus a radio station, and about 200 employees.

As with Inter, the My-Ukraina media group, despite its nominally open media ownership, is another opaque media asset. Given the overall state of the market, it can hardly be called a pure business. So, it was created for other interests, such as influencing society. The authorities need this influence, especially in the elections that will take place at some point.

TV panel data belongs to TIC (Television Industry Committee); researcher—Nielsen; monitoring—Communication Alliance. The data is for an audience of 18+, sample '50 thousand+’ by rat% and shr%.

Read more about the indicators in the TIC glossary.

Main illustration: My Ukraina / Facebook