Broadcast rights to the Uefa Champions League and Europa League have been acquired in Ukraine by the incumbent Media Group Ukraine, which operates pay-TV offerings Football 1 and Football 2, and also cable operator Volia.

Media Group Ukraine held the exclusive rights from 2015-16 to 2017-18, and also showed games on Ukrayina, its free-to-air national channel, but will now share coverage with Volia, a new player in Ukraine in sports rights acquisitions.

Guy-Laurent Epstein, marketing director at Uefa Events, said that the rights agreement in Ukraine “confirms the strong relationship between Uefa and the Media Group Ukraine in the territory of Ukraine, and is a significant step for Volia as it has begun to buy football content.”

The rights-holding broadcasters said that the partnership between them would allow viewers in nearly 15 million households to watch the competitions. 

Gyorgy Zsembery, Volia’s chief executive, said that the telecoms group is looking to “provide Ukrainian consumers with digital interactive services, high-speed internet and exclusive movie channels, plus innovative sporting products.”

The Football 1 and Football 2 channels are available on Volia’s digital TV platform at an additional cost of UAH59 ($2.10) per month.

The Team Marketing agency started the sales process in Ukraine in February, issuing a bid deadline of 21 March.

In the 2012-13 to 2014-15 cycle, Media Group Ukraine shared the Uefa club rights with Media Group 1+1.

Sportcal