(Source: http://medialeaks.ru/news/vedomosti_putin)

The businessmen close to the Russian President Vladimir Putin are going to buy the “Vedomosti” newspaper, as Bloomberg reports referring to the three informed sources.

The head of state has lately signed the law limiting the participation of foreign capital in the Russian mass media. It can be used so that the shares of the American News Corp. (the publisher of The Wall Street Journal), the British FT Group (the publisher of The Financial Times) and the Finnish Sanoma in “Vedomosti”  were acquired by the holding of “Gazprom-Media” led by Mikhail Lesin, or by companies associated with Yurii Kovalchuk, as the sources note.

The plan was supported by the Russian presidential administration, as the interviewees of Bloomberg say. According to them, in order to make the deal with the businessmen loyal to Putin look more “politically attractive”, a mediator can be used. “The Kremlin considers foreign governments to be the shareholders of “Vedomosti”.

He thinks that The Wall Street Journal is equal to “USA”, and The Financial Times - to “Great Britain” - the chief editor of “Vedomosti” Tatyana Lysova said. The Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said to Bloomberg that the fate of “Vedomosti” will be determined by the “market process.” “We do not know what will happen with “Vedomosti”, who will buy it” - the representative of the Kremlin noted.

The main contender for the purchase of the Russian assets of Sanoma, according to the sources, is the American investor Peter Hervey known as the founder of the “STS Media” and Maximum radio station. The businessman told to the edition that he is really interested in the assets, but acts independently and not on someone else’s behalf. The President of RBC Derk Sauer, who founded “Vedomosti” in 1999, expressed the opinion that The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times are in a “very difficult situation”.

There are very few people in Russia who are able to purchase “Vedomosti” and at the same time ensure the newspaper’s editorial independence” – Sauer said. In his opinion, the buyer of the publication will most likely be structure “loyal to the government”.