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Sunday 05.02.2012

Sole Saami radio station in Russia in disarray

Money and the director have gone missing.

The director of the Kola Saami radio has disappeared and the employees have not been paid for the past four months, reports the Barents Observer.

The employees are now fear a closure of the Kola Saami Radio will make it impossible to start up again later.

But tax officials and the state attorney are seriously concerned about how the radio station will cover their debt of 270,000 RUR ($10,000), reports NRK Sami Radio in Norway.

NRK has tried to get in contact with the director of Kola Saami Radio, Aleksandr Paul, without success.

Another journalist with the Kola Sami Radio, Jevgenij Kirillov, says director Paul is in a dangerous situation right now.

"The authorities are suspecting him of not paying the debt and salaries, and therefore are threatening to put him in jail," Kirillov told NRK.

Kola Saami Radio has been in economic trouble for a long time.

In February the Norwegian Barents Secretariat gave the radio 45,000 NOK (€5,000) and said they also hoped other organizations would assist the only radio station in Russia broadcasting in the Saami language.

The radio also has received money from the Norwegian Saami Parliament, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nordic Council of Ministers and the European Union's Interreg program

In total, Kola Sami Radio has got millions of roubles during the last decade.

The grants provided were supposed to be used for the start-up costs for the radio programs in Kildin Saami language – not for the daily operations.