Vedomosti Sale Delayed Amid Pro-Kremlin Censorship Scandal
The sale of Russia’s top business newspaper Vedomosti has
been postponed as the paper struggles to maintain independence under its new
chief editor, the Open Media investigative website reported Wednesday.
Claims of censorship have swirled around Vedomosti since its
sale was announced in March. In the span of a month, acting editor-in-chief
Andrei Shmarov has been accused of removing columns critical of Russian oil
giant Rosneft, as well as banning coverage of independent poll results and
articles criticizing President Vladimir Putin’s proposed constitutional
changes.
“Some deadlines are being shifted due to the coronavirus,
but I can’t say that these are fundamental changes,” Open Media quoted former
Vedomosti owner Demyan Kudryavtsev as saying.
Kudryavtsev said it was “too early” to consider bankruptcy
following reports of depleted funds, adding: “I hope the deal doesn’t fall
through.”
The Bell business outlet reported last week that businessman
Alexei Golubovich, one of Vedomosti’s buyers, was considering pulling out of
the deal because of the censorship scandal.
The announcement of Vedomosti’s sale to Golubovich and
publisher Konstantin Zyatkov in March drew concern among the paper’s staffers,
with former editor-in-chief Tatiana Lysova describing the two buyers as “alien
to Vedomosti’s rules and ideals.”
Shmarov’s hiring as acting editor-in-chief sparked further
backlash within Vedomosti’s ranks and upset Russia’s heavily regulated media
landscape. Five deputy editors appealed to Vedomosti’s new owners to appoint a
different chief editor on March 31.
Founded in 1999, Vedomosti largely operated independently
with backing from foreign media organizations until 2015, when Russia passed a
law limiting foreign ownership in media companies to 20%. Kudryavtsev, a former
chief executive of another business daily Kommersant and associate of the late
oligarch Boris Berezovsky, bought the newspaper that year.
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