Exiled Russian Sells Key Portion of His Media Holdings
The exiled financier who built Russia’s only nationwide independent media group lost control of his empire Friday after being forced to sell shares to the state-dominated natural gas monopoly to cover his debts.
Vladimir A. Gusinsky had battled for months to retain his grip on his Media-Most group, which owns Russia’s only nationwide independent television network, NTV, against what he has described as a Kremlin plot to stifle critics.
Natural gas monopoly Gazprom said that, in exchange for writing off $211 million in debt, it had displaced Gusinsky as the largest voting shareholder in NTV and won a substantial stake in Media-Most’s other subsidiaries.
A Gazprom official said the gas monopoly would hold a total of 50% plus one share of all Media-Most companies except NTV, and 65% of the television station.
But Gazprom’s stake includes 19% of NTV and 25% of the other companies that are held as collateral for debt, so Gazprom cannot vote those shares and would therefore not directly control the firms.
Media moguls like Gusinsky and Boris A. Berezovsky--Kremlin insiders who have fallen out of favor with the current administration--have cried foul as federal prosecutors probed their businesses.
Both men have fled abroad and refused to return this week for questioning in fraud and asset-stripping investigations.
Prosecutors on Friday reopened a case against Gusinsky that he said was politically motivated and aimed to force him to sign away his empire.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
