“Servant of the People” Deputy Buys 4 Kanal Despite Declaring He Has No Housing of His Own

Kovalev himself said his family bought 4 Kanal to give him new opportunities.

People's Deputy Alexei Kovalev of “Servant of the People” bought 4 Kanal from former MP Dmytro Dobrodomov. 

Interlocutors of UP at the channel said Kovalev attended the channel's New Year corporate party, where he was introduced to staff as the new owner. During the celebration, the MP signed an agreement with management on non-interference in editorial policy. 

According to open data, Alexei Kovalev is the founder of LLC “TRK “INTERRADIO”, with a 100% ownership stake. The authorized capital is listed as UAH 4,363,511. 

4 Kanal reported that in February 2021 Dobrodomov became co-owner and director of the channel. 

At the end of 2020, Alexei Kovalev declared UAH 540,000 in a bank account, UAH 4 million and $101,045 in cash. His only permanent income is his MP salary. 

The price of the channel deal is still unknown. However, the authorized capital of the acquired company alone — UAH 4.4 million — amounts to almost 60% of Kovalev's cash savings at the end of 2020. 

Kovalev himself said that his family bought 4 Kanal to give him new opportunities and make it one of the leaders in the media market. 

Alexei Kovalev
People's Deputy from “Servant of the People”

“4 Kanal,” in my view, is the only private broadcaster in Ukraine that is equidistant from all political and oligarchic groups. I am convinced that such media are sorely lacking in Ukraine, because channels serving exclusively their owners cause significant harm to our state and the Ukrainian people. Therefore, our family decided to acquire the channel and make it even higher-quality, more powerful and popular. There are plans for rapid development, and the reputation and professionalism of the “plus” team will provide “4 Kanal” with new additional opportunities to very quickly become one of the leaders among news channels.

According to him, the channel's pro-Ukrainian orientation will be preserved, as will its independent editorial policy. He believes the channel should be more clearly aimed at strengthening unifying processes in Ukrainian society. 

“This is another of our tasks in the near future,” Kovalev said. 

Dmytro Dobrodomov
former owner of the TV channel

Four years — that is exactly how much time it took us with partners and an excellent team to make 4 Kanal today a recognizable phenomenon in Ukraine's media market. Pro-Ukrainian and balanced content quickly found its viewers, whose numbers increased fivefold over the last year alone, and the channel found its place among national news broadcasters. Three TV cameras, a small studio room and several dozen employees at the start, and now a full team of nearly two hundred professionals, two fully equipped studios with modern equipment and full national broadcast coverage — this is the current result!

He said that the next stage of development and ambitious plans to compete for leadership require significant investment, which the new owner of 4 Kanal is ready to take on. 

Meanwhile, MP Kovalev declared in his 2020 declaration that he has the right to use two houses of his mother, and also rents an apartment in Kyiv. 

According to the declaration, the MP has no housing. He declared two houses of his mother in Kherson region, her land plot, and also noted that he rents an apartment of nearly 70 m² in Kyiv. 

Kovalev also owns a BMW X6 2020 model year car, which cost more than UAH 2.7 million.