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TheBaltic News Service(BNS) is the largestnews agencyoperating in theBaltic States.Founded in April 1990, by a group ofstudents(the founding CEO wasAllan Martinson), it sought to informforeign correspondentsinMoscowof developments in the Baltic States'struggles for independencefrom theSoviet Union.Within a few months, it had been recognized by numerousWesternmediasources.
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| Industry | News agency |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1990 |
| Headquarters | Tallinn,Estonia |
| Website | www www |
Today, BNS is aholding companyfor separate organizations inEstonia,Latvia,andLithuania.[citation needed]
BNS disseminates news in Russian and English (as well as the domestic languages of Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian) via theinternetand by other means. Subscribers include media, financial, industrial, and government institutions in the Baltic States. BNS also collaborates withAgence France-Presse,Reuters,andInterfax.[citation needed]
In 2003, the BNS publishing company in Estonia, BNS Kirjastus, bought the bankrupt news agency ETA (Eesti Teadeteagentuur).[1][2]
BNS was wholly owned by theFinnishmedia groupAlma Mediafrom 2001[3]until March 2014 when it was sold to Uudisvoog OÜ, a company fully owned by the Estonian Ilmar Kompus who is also the proprietor of theSky Plusradio station.[4]
Later,[when?]BNS was acquired by Eesti Meedia (nowPostimees Group), which is owned by Estonian entrepreneurMargus Linnamäethrough investment firmMM Group.In late 2015, BNS was effectively joined byLETA(Latvia's formerly state-owned news agency) when UP Invest (a subsidiary of MM Group) acquired most shares in the Latvian agency.[5]To satisfy regulatory concerns, Eesti Meedia sold Latvian BNS operations (subsequently renamed Latvian News Service) and media monitoring service Mediju Monitorings to a third-party Estonian company named AMP Investeeringud on 31 August 2015.[5]Later, it was discovered that most employees of the Latvian News Service and Mediju Monitorings were transferred to LETA, but was not disclosed to the Latvian authorities at the time of the acquisition.[6]On 18 January 2019, theCompetition Council of Latviaimposed a €32,200 fine on MM Group.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^"BNS ostis ära ETA kaubamärgi".4 March 2003.
- ^"BNS ostis uudisteagentuuri ETA kaubamärgi".
- ^Kauppalehti osti kokonaan Baltian johtavan uutistoimisto BNS:nArchived8 April 2014 at theWayback Machine.Press release by Alma Media Oyj, 5 December 2001. (In Finnish.)
- ^Alma Media myy BNS:nArchived8 April 2014 at theWayback Machine.Press release by Alma Media Oyj, 3 March 2014. (In Finnish.)
- ^ab"Competition watchdog okays sale of LETA news agency to MM Grupp".eng.lsm.lv.Public broadcasting of Latvia.5 January 2016.Retrieved12 January2022.
- ^ab"Owner of LETA news agency fined over 2015 acquisition deal".eng.lsm.lv.Public broadcasting of Latvia.24 January 2019.Retrieved12 January2022.