Europa Plus streams hot adult contemporary and Top 40 hits under the slogan "More Hits! More Music!," broadcasting live from Moscow with local programming stretching across Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and several other former Soviet republics. Press play on Radio Shuffle and it streams instantly, free, with no account or app download required.
The USSR's first private radio station, launched with "Imagine"
Europa Plus went on air on April 30, 1990, becoming the Soviet Union's first non-state commercial radio station, according to the station's broadcast history. The idea came from Georges Polinski, president of the French network Kiss FM, who conceived it while on vacation in Greece in 1988. He built the station as a joint venture between his French partners and Soviet state entity Sovteleexport, with the French side holding a 51 percent stake against the Soviet side's 49 percent. The first song ever played on the new station was John Lennon's "Imagine," a symbolically loaded choice for the USSR's first taste of independent, commercially run radio.
The station's commitment to staying purely music-focused and apolitical was tested almost immediately. During the attempted coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991, when hardline Soviet officials seized control of state media and tanks rolled through Moscow, Europa Plus kept its regular music programming running rather than turning into a political mouthpiece for either side, a choice that became part of its founding legend.
From joint venture to full French ownership
Europa Plus expanded steadily through the 1990s and 2000s, adding local stations across Russia and eventually reaching Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Ownership consolidated over time too: by February 2004, Europe Plus France, part of the French Lagardère Group, had become the station's sole owner. That same year, Europa Plus ranked fifth among all Russian radio stations by audience, broadcasting in Moscow on 106.2 FM.
Listen free on Radio Shuffle
Europa Plus streams around the clock, and Radio Shuffle carries the feed live with nothing to install and no subscription required. Press play for hot adult contemporary hits from the station that brought commercial radio to the Soviet Union for the very first time.