Vedomosti
Vedomosti (Russian: Ведомости, IPA: [ˈvʲedəməsʲtʲɪ], lit. 'The Record') is a Russian-language business daily newspaper published in Moscow.[2]
Type | Daily newspaper |
---|---|
Format | Broadsheet |
Owner(s) | Ivan Yeremin (via Sapport) |
Founder(s) | Derk Sauer |
Editor-in-chief | Andrey Shmarov |
Founded | 1999 |
Language | Russian |
Headquarters | Moscow |
Country | Russia |
Circulation | 64,680[1] |
ISSN | 1814-3881 (print) 1727-7345 (web) |
Website | www |
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History
Vedomosti was founded as a joint venture between Dow Jones, who publishes The Wall Street Journal; Pearson, who previously published the Financial Times; and Independent Media, who publishes The Moscow Times.[3][4] Independent Media was acquired by Finnish media company Sanoma in 2005.[5]
Sanoma sold its stake in the paper to Demyan Kudryavtsev, former chief executive of Kommersant, in April 2015.[6] Ahead of a new Russian media ownership law prohibiting foreign enterprises from owning more than 20% of Russian media companies, Dow Jones and Pearson also divested their stakes in 2015 to Kudryavtsev,[7][8] who held the right of first refusal.[9]
In March 2020, Kudryavtsev and his partners, Boris Berezovsky associate Vladimir Voronov and former News Corp executive Martin Pompadour, announced their intention to sell Vedomosti to two buyers: publisher of Nasha Versiya Konstantin Zyatkov and managing director of Arbat Capital Alexei Golubovich.[10] Former editor-in-chief Tatiana Lysova criticized the sale, saying that the buyers were "alien to Vedomosti’s rules and ideals."[10]
The following month, the sale was put on hold amid accusations of censorship under editor-in-chief Andrey Shmarov.[11] Shmarov reportedly deleted articles critical of Rosneft's head, Igor Sechin, and banned articles critical of Putin's proposed constitutional changes.[12] According to an investigation by Meduza, Arkan Investment, Vedomostis parent company, had taken out a loan of €28 million from Rosneft's subsidiary the Russian Regional Development Bank (RRDB) to pay off a previous €25 million loan from the Russian state-owned bank Gazprombank which was used to buy Vedomosti in 2015. The investigation also alleged that Rosneft spokesperson Mikhail Leontyev was involved in both the selection of Shmarov as editor-in-chief and in negotiating the sale of the paper.[9] Kudryavtsev confirmed the loan, but claims the loan was not used to buy Vedomosti.[13]
On 29 May 2020, Vedomosti was sold to businessman Ivan Yeremin via his holding company Sapport.[13][14]
On 15 June 2020, five senior editors resigned from Vedomosti in protest to Shmarov's confirmation to editor-in-chief by the paper's board of directors.[15]
References
- "Vedomosti". Eurotopics. Federal Agency for Civic Education. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
- Koikkalainen, Katja (December 2007). "The Local and the International in Russian Business Journalism: Structures and Practices". Europe-Asia Studies. 59 (8): 1315–1329. JSTOR 20451455.
- Whalen, Jeanne (8 September 1999). "Dow Jones, Pearson, Dutch Publisher Jointly Launch Newspaper in Russia". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
- Picard, Robert G. (1989). Media Firms: Structures, Operations, and Performance. Newbury Park: SAGE Publishing. p. 61. ISBN 9780803935013.
- "SanomaWSOY acquires the leading Russian magazine publisher Independent Media". Sanoma. 19 January 2005.
- "Sanoma agrees sale of stake in Vedomosti and other leading titles in Russia". Sanoma. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
- Sweney, Mark (20 November 2015). "Pearson and Dow Jones sell stakes in Russian newspaper Vedomosti". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
- Strokolsky, Konstantin (16 October 2014). "Bloomberg: друзья Путина готовятся купить газету 'Ведомости'". Russian Planet (in Russian). Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
- Lysova, Tatiana; Golunov, Ivan; Yakoreva, Anastasia (12 May 2020). "'Conspiring with these people': How Rosneft trapped one of Russia's top business newspapers and left the nominal owner with $15.1 million in profits. A joint investigation". Meduza.
- "Vedomosti Owner Kudryavtsev Agrees on Sale Deal". The Moscow Times. 18 March 2020.
- "Vedomosti Sale Delayed Amid Pro-Kremlin Censorship Scandal". The Moscow Times. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
- "Vedomosti Sale Put on Hold After Censorship Backlash". Russia Business Today. 1 May 2020.
- "Sale of top Russian business newspaper 'Vedomosti' complete". Meduza. 29 May 2020.
- "Новым владельцем 'Ведомостей' стал Иван Еремин" (in Russian). TASS. 29 May 2020.
- Farber, Gabrielle Tétrault; Zverev, Anton (15 June 2020). "Five senior editors at Russian business newspaper resign, accuse boss of pro-Kremlin censorship". The Globe and Mail. Reuters.