NTU, the Ukrainian national broadcaster has announced today on its official website that Ukraine will not participate at the forthcoming 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna next year due to financial reasons.

The Ukrainian broadcaster states on its website that due to the current circumstances the country  is facing, it has taken the decision of withdrawing from the competition in 2015, but hopes to return in 2016. The Ukrainian audience will not miss out on the Eurovision Song Contest next year as the broadcaster plans to air the event next May.

The unstable financial and political situation afflicting Ukraine, military aggression from the east, the annexation of Ukrainian territories — all these events have led and forced NTU to focus on its main priorities: the speedy construction of a public broadcaster in Ukraine. Hence this will require optimizing the costs carefully. Therefore, the National Television Company of Ukraine , in a  bilateral agreement with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), has decided to withdraw from the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest. – NTU statement

Thus Ukraine joins Monaco, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Andorra, Turkey  and Luxembourg all whom  have confirmed their absence at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2014 NTU organized a national selection in order to select its Eurovision entry. Maria Yaremchuk won the Ukrainian national final and represented Ukraine in Copenhagen with her entry Tick Tock, achieving an honorable 6th place in the grand final.

Ukraine debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 and has the won the event once in 2004 with Ruslana’s Wild Dances bringing the trophy to Ukrainian soil for the very first time. Kiev and NTU sucessfully hosted the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest.

Ukraine is one of the most successful countries in the contest, having qualified to the final every year since their debut and holds a good record in the competition (8 top 10 results out of their 12 contributions). The country placed 1st in 2oo4 with Ruslana, 2nd in 2007 with Verka Serduchka and in 2008 with Ani Lorak, 3rd in 2013 with Zlata Ognevich, 4th in 2011 with Mika Newton,  6th in 2014 with Mariya Yaremchuk, 7th with Tina Karol in 2006 and 10th with Alyosha in 2010.

The 2015 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 19, 21, 23 May at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria.

Stay tuned to esctoday.com for more news on Ukraine and the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.