Lybid TV goes bust
April 11, 2014
By Chris Forrester
Ukrainian satellite broadcaster Lybid is filing for bankruptcy.
A statement from the company said it plans to stop its activities as a result of the economic situation in the Ukraine. The operator says it has been forced to stop providing services because it owes money to companies renting satellite capacity, and well as to other companies.
The operator says plans to initiate a bankruptcy procedure according to Ukrainian legal requirements. Lybid TV launched in July last year using a pair of transponders on Eutelsat’s 36B craft ahead of the launch of a new Ukrainian satellite, called Lybid-Sat, but it is understood that failure of the TV broadcaster does not affect the satellite.
The satellite project itself has also been beset with difficulties for some time, not now helped by problems in the Ukraine. Lybid-Sat is a DTH satellite built by Canada’s MDA Corp., and was delivered last summer ready for launch. That launch was scheduled to take place later this month, although has been delayed, according to reports from Kiev. MDA, in a statement on April 4th, said Lybid-Sat would be launched in the second-half of 2014.
The capacity being used by Lybid TV has mostly been re-sold, according to Eutelsat.