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Berezovsky Will Not Sell Kommersant
May 19, Boris Berezovsky denied all the rumors concerning selling Kommersant at a press-conference with Kommersant journalists, speaking from London.
Berezovsky said, however, that rumors were not groundless, since he had indeed had several proposals from “large industrial groups” to buy the media holding. Moreover, the price offered for the deal was twice the market capitalization ($75-90 million) of Kommersant Publishing House.
However, Mr. Berezovsky said he never consented to any of the proposals and never had any intention to sell Kommersant, just as he was never going to either sell his other editions www.grani.ru or Nezavisimaya Gazeta (Independent Newspaper).
Berezovsky considers proposals to buy Kommersant just part of the scheme, which was already used by the state to destroy TV-6 and later TVS television companies. Moreover, he stated that all the rumors about selling Kommersant only damaged the image of media holding and the business as a whole and asked not to circulate them any longer.
Answering the question why he had left Russia and lived abroad, Berezovsky said it was his deliberate choice, since only that way he could remain free, unlike all those who had decided to stay in Russia. “That’s why, he said, I have the opportunity not to listen to the Kremlin.” Besides, Boris Berezovsky defined the policy chosen by Russia’s present government as “destructive” and “dead-end.”
Talking about Kommersant, Boris Berezovsky noted the quality of materials and analysis for being the most objective compared to other Russian media. However, he said, “even Kommersant tends to present the situation in a softer way.”
Boris Berezovsky said Kommersant was first of all a political instrument for him, even though it started out like business at first and still remains profitable in this regard. At the same time Boris Berezovsky stressed that he “had never exerted any influence on the edition, but just the other way round - always tried to secure the independence of Kommersant’s position. Moreover, Boris Berezovsky believes the power will keep increasing pressure on Kommersant.
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Photo: Ilya Pitalev
