Russian public TV to have full reliance on state

The Public Television initiated by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will fully rely on the government and state financing. Its chief will be appointed by the president, Gazeta.ru reports.
Amendments will be passed to the law on non-commercial organizations.
Opposition says that the Public Television will not be "public" if the president picks its chief. "I do not understand how the channel will differ from all we have today already," a member of A Fair Russia, Ilia Ponomarev, says.
The Presidential Council for Development of Civil Society has formed a working group to form the public television. It disagrees with the opposition. It explains that the government provides financing and forms the organization based on the Public Chamber and the presidential council, then the TV channel will work on its own, presidential advisor Mikhail Fedotov said.