Euronews appoints head of Ukrainian channel

Euronews has appointed Fidel Pavlenko to head its new Ukrainian language channel, which has been given a confirmed launch date of August 24.

The news broadcaster signed a deal with NTU, the national television broadcaster of the Ukraine, to jointly launch a new channel last October. It has now hired Pavlenko to lead a team of 16 journalists who will join the newsroom shortly to prepare for the launch of the channel’s 11th language version, joining the Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish channels.

Pavlenko is a British journalist of Ukrainian origin. He graduated from the National University of Kiev and the BBC’s journalism school.

Separately, Euronews has reported 2010 results that showed operating income of €60 million, up 14% year-on-year, and 10% headcount growth to reach nearly 700 staff, including 400 journalists, at the end of the year. The channel reached 350 million households. “The 2010 results confirm the validity of Euronews’ business model and the expansion strategy embarked upon in 2008. The model’s success stems from a unique, multicultural editorial offering; an exceptional penetration of the market; a multimedia approach focused on providing the right content at the right time; and a structural flexibility that helps the channel to innovate and adapt in a constantly-evolving news market, which is now viewed as hyper-competitive by all,” the broadcaster said in a statement.