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France delays ruling on Eutelsat row
Chris Forrester ©RapidTVNews | 08-02-2010
Eutelsat and Georgian public TV channel Pervyy Kavkazskiy (First Caucasus) have been arguing in a Paris court over whether Eutelsat has denied the TV channel access to its satellites.
Observers to the action expected a decision yesterday (Monday), but the court says there will be no verdict in the argument until at least Feb 22, which means the best part of 3 more weeks of possible bickering between the two parties.
The Parisian commercial court’s judge said he was not competent to rule in this instance, and sent the summary of the proceedings to a higher authority, and that action will commence on Feb 22. Last Friday, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged both protagonists to find an agreement so as to allow the Georgian TV project to flourish. Attached to pluralism, the French State owns 25 % of Paris-based Eutelsat.
The Pervyy Kavkazskiy’s lawyer in the action told Agence France Presse that he remained confident and happy with the merits of the case.
Eutelsat, it seems, is of the opinion that the case should never have reached court, and is keen to see a commercial solution emerge that is acceptable to both parties. With this in mind perhaps an agreement will emerge ahead of Feb 22.
© Rapid TV News 2010
