A scandal is unfolding around the website The Gaze, a new English-language media outlet that is financed by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine from the state budget.

According to the NGL publication, more than 60 million UAH have already been spent on The Gaze in 4 months, while no one reads or watches the site.

The English-language digital platform The Gaze launched in June 2023. The purpose of the publication stated by the government is to cover events in Ukraine for a Western audience (primarily for residents of the USA and Great Britain).

At the same time, all content for Gaze is created by private contractors, whose services are paid for by the state enterprise “Multimedia Platform for Foreign Broadcasting of Ukraine” from the budget of the Ministry of Culture.

According to the government procurement portal Prozorro, the cost of already signed contracts for video production for The Gaze amounted to 35 million UAH, and for text news and articles – 11 million UAH.

The most expensive cooking show is UAH 261 thousand per episode, each of which receives an average of only 900 views on YouTube. At the same time, more than 8 million UAH have already been spent on the production of Chefs Next Door. Among The Gaze’s shows there is a frankly strange format called “Hidden Angle”, where the program is hosted by… ducks (see video).

Artem Bidenko, who oversees The Gaze project as an adviser to the Multimedia Platform for Foreign Broadcasting, has already responded to the scandal. He stated that the project is still at an early stage, so it is too early to judge its failure and “money down the drain.” And he explained the low coverage and little-known nature of the publication itself by the lack of budget for promotion and work with foreign influencers. Bidenko added that “it would be very good to receive funds for promotion and content from donors.” The Gaze is preparing to apply to various donor programs next year, he said.