State Monopolist Repeatedly Refuses Services to Independent Newspaper
On August 31, the newspaper Novy Chas again requested for services of Belsayuzdruk, state distributor of printed press.
The newspaper was left out from the state-run system of press distributor before elections in 2006. From that time, the public and journalism community pressed the authorities to eliminate economic discrimination, after which several major newspapers returned itno the distribution net (including Nasha Niva (8000 copies), and Narodnaya Volya (26000 copies)). However, some outlets, like Novy Chas are still discriminated. Belsayuzdruk refuses to cooperate with the outlets and provide them with distribution services. This time the editorial office received a reply that the enterprise doesn’t have a possibility to provide services, but promises to consider the issue by the end of the year. The regional newspapers Hazeta Slonimskaya and Intex-press (Baranavichy) experience the same trouble, although the editorial offices and readers of the outlets insistently appeal to the distributors.