A government agency that controls digital air frequencies suspended the broadcast on Tuesday on the grounds that Channel One has failed to pay retransmission fees for March, April and May.
Minister of High-Technology Industry Mkhitar Hayrapetian revealed the amount of the debt when he visited the Armenian parliament on Friday. He confirmed that the sum has been paid in full.
The Russian broadcaster reported the payment on Thursday. “We expect the resumption of Channel One broadcasts in the Yerevan [digital] multiplex in the coming hours,” it told the Sputnik news agency.
The suspension of the broadcasts was announced one day after the Kremlin-controlled channel aired a talk show during which senior Russian lawmakers lambasted Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his policies. The 20-minute segment also featured footage of ongoing antigovernment protests in Armenia and riot police beating up an opposition parliamentarian.
Channel One already aired last October an hour-long program disparaging Pashinian. Yerevan accused it of violating a 2020 Russian-Armenian agreement that allowed continued retransmission of Russian state television programs in the South Caucasus country.
On May 7, Pashinian threatened to ban the Russian broadcasters if they do not respect the country’s “state order” and national interests. Hayrapetian reiterated on Friday that the 2020 agreement should be amended to ascertain cases constituting its violation.
“We have officially presented [relevant] proposals to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, and I think that it will present them to the Russian Foreign Ministry,” the minister told lawmakers.