Thursday, December 18, 2014

Lesin stepping down as head of “Gazprom Media” – RBC

Lesin stepping down as head of "Gazprom Media" – RBC

The general director of” Gazprom-Media “Mikhail Lesin

Photo: RIA Novosti

As told RBC government source, the initiator of the resignation could be Yuri Kovalchuk. According to him, the discontent caused by the fact that Lessin too much money spent on the purchase of “Prof-Media».

Kovalchuk – perhaps the key person in the Russian media market. Bank “Russia” Kovalchuk to the imposition of sanctions owned a large stake in the Criminal Code “Leader”, which manages assets of NPF “Gazfond”, which owns nearly 50% of Gazprombank (“Gazprom-Media” – “daughter” of the bank). Kovalchuk’s National Media Group owned by REN-TV, Channel Five, as well as blocking stakes Channel One and CTC Media.

In addition to the source, Lessin alienated influential heads of TV channels – “First” and NTV.

Once Lessin headed “Gazprom-Media”, he initiated a tender for the selection of all priznannnogo meter television audience (“Channel” for many years does not recognize the current vendor ratings – research company TNS). But the tender ended in a fiasco – to agree among themselves the heads of federal TV channels could not. On Wednesday, December 17, it was announced that the board of the Association “Industrial Committee telemetering”, whose members include all the major television holdings, instead of Lesina headed by Alexander Ordzhonikidze, General Director of “National Media Group” (affiliated with the bank “Russia”).

The interlocutor RBC “Gazprom Media” connects the decision to withdraw from Lesina “Gazprom-Media” with the changed market conditions, when in October 2013 he was back in the media business, he had plans to transform the industry, some of which he immediately is initiated. But now the advertising market falls, and the head of the holding must first deal with the reduction of costs.

Sam Lessin admitted that he had lost the habit of operational management, the last time he led the commercial organization in the early 2000s. “It is interesting to solve the problem of general industry”, – told RBC previously one of the managers of “Gazprom-Media”.

The publication Forbes reported with reference to a federal official that the decision on the resignation of Yassin made personally by President Vladimir Putin. Source RBC’s media market reported that Lessin is currently on vacation, the last days in office did not see him.

The official “Gazprom Media” retired Lesina not confirmed.

There is no information, who will replace him as the head of “Gazprom Media».

Lessin headed “Gazprom Media” in 2013. During his leadership the company has acquired the television and radioactive “Prof-Media” and restructured job advertising service.

Also during activities Yassin had a disagreement with the chief editor of “Echo of Moscow” Alexei Venediktov. It was after the arrival of Yassin on the radio was replaced CEO and Venediktov then wrote a letter to Putin, in which he expressed concern for the fate of freedom of speech in Russia.

After a month Venediktov was re-elected to the post of chief editor of the radio station, but the employment contract with “Gazprom-Media” signed only on July 2 after long negotiations and agreements.

In the fall of “Echo of Moscow” new scandal erupted. General Director Ekaterina Pavlova at the initiative of Yassin fired journalist Alexandra Ivy. The employment contract was terminated with the lead after he spoke out on Twitter about the deceased son of the head of the Russian presidential administration Sergei Ivanov. Venediktov opposed, citing the statute of “Echo of Moscow”, under which journalists can only dismiss the editor in chief. In response Lessin not rule out that if Venediktov not agree with the dismissal of Ivy, it is possible that he himself will have to leave the station.

The conflict was resolved on November 19. Order of dismissal Ivy decided to cancel, and the charter of the station agreed to make changes to the rules of conduct of journalists in social networks.

LikeTweet

No comments:

Post a Comment