Dumitru Țîra

Dumitru Țîra is the head of the Realitatea  Press Group and a lawyer by profession, with extensive experience  in the media sector.

He was managing director of the Publika Media Group between 2009-2013, and of Publika TV, which launched as a news channel in April 2010, and was one of the founders of the Publika Media Group. The Publika Media Group included the TV channel Publika TV, the radio channel Publika FM, several internet sites: publika.md, voxpublika.md, autostrada.md, epresa.md, zumi.md and vesti.md, the TV channel MUZ TV and the radio channel Muz FM. 

Prior to his media career (1998-2009), Țîra practiced law at a bank, lectured at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (ASEM), and served as a diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.

Publicly available records show Dumitru Țîra as the founder of several companies: DND Media SRL, MTD Business SRL, HB Media SRL, Tiranika SRL.

In May 2011, Dumitru Țîra took over the ownership of Publika TV, buying the majority stakes from Bluelink Comunicazione. Bluelink Comunicazione was owned by Romanian businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vântu.

At the time, reports suggested that Vladimir Plahotniuc, an oligarch and former president of the Democratic Party, which ruled Moldova from 2016 to 2019 and is currently under investigation in several criminal cases, including the 'Billion Theft', was the actual beneficial owner of the TV channel. Țîra has denied the allegations. Țîra headed the Publika media group until 2013.

The company through which Publika TV was owned then, Stiri Media SRL, where Țîra initially appeared as administrator and later as owner, was founded by a company registered in an offshore zone in Birmingham, UK. This firm had connections with companies later involved in Moldova's largest banking fraud, known as the "theft of the billion", as they were all registered under the name of a person who was actually a proxy. These were Constata SRL and Sisteme Informaționale Integrate SRL, actually controlled by Ilan Shor, a controversial pro-Russian politician, fugitive in Moscow and convicted in Moldova for fraud and money laundering in the banking fraud case. This case also involves oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, also fled from Moldova, who is considered by prosecutors to be the main beneficiary of the banking fraud that took place between 2011-2014 and affected several banks in Moldova.

In 2014, Tîra launched the Realitatea Media Group, which included Realitatea TV. 

The  channel entered the Moldovan media market on July 8, 2014, and was owned by HB Media SRL, which was founded by MMDT SRL, which is further  owned by Dumitru Tîra, the founder of MDT Business SRL.

Realitatea Media Group also included several websites: realitatea.md, realitatealive.md (rlive.md), golos.md, money.md, kankan.md, and topmedia.md.

In 2017, Realitatea TV suspended its operations due to a lack of financial resources, as explained by Tîra at the time. 

From 2016 to 2018, Dumitru Țîra served as a member of the Press Council of Moldova.

He was also a member of the Integrity Council within the National Integrity Authority, which verifies declarations of assets and interests of public servants, between 2017 and 2020. He was removed from this position by the then Minister of Justice, Olesea Stamate, a decision he challenged in court. The Chișinău Court overturned the dismissal order, and while Tîra later resigned, the Supreme Court upheld the lower courts' decisions, declaring his dismissal from the Integrity Council illegal. 

In 2019, Țîra ran for mayor of the city of Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, on behalf of the European People's Party of Moldova. 

In 2020, DumitruȚîra launched the RLIVE TV television station, which is also part of the Realitatea Media Group.

Realitatea Media Group currently includes: 

• Realitatea.md – news portal in Romanian
• Bani.md – economic news portal in Romanian
• Rupor.md – news portal in Russian
• Moldovalive.md – news portal about Moldova, in English
• cancan.md - entertainment and lifestyle news portal
• Rlive.md - the platform for live broadcasts
• RLIVE TV - the first live broadcast television.

All of them are  managed by the company Bright Communications SRL, controlled by Dumitru Țîra.

On July 30, 2024, the Realitatea Media Group acquired the IPN press agency, established nearly 20 years ago. The IPN agency will operate as a distinct media institution separate from Realitatea's organizational structure.