Gazprom-Media

Gazprom-Media (Russian: ОАО Газпром-Медиа) is a Russian media holding company established in January 1998 as a subsidiary of Gazprom Media Holdings.^[2] It and its parent company are subsidiaries of Gazprom, a large Russian oil and gas company founded in 1989.^[3][4] The group owns more than 38 television channels and 10 radio stations.

Gazprom-Media

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Mass media
Founded	1998
Headquarters	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Key people	Aleksandr Zharov, CEO Alexey Miller, Chairman
Revenue	$126 million[1] (2017)
Operating income	$9.13 million[1] (Į)
Net income	$11 million[1] (2017)
Total assets	$75.4 million[1] (2017)
Total equity	$24.4 million[1] (2017)
Owner	Gazprom
Parent	Gazprombank
Subsidiaries	NTV, NTV Plus, Echo of Moscow, Rutube, Tribuna (Russian newspaper), GPM-Radio
Website	www.gazprom-media.com

History

In 2000, under pressure from Mikhail Lesin, Gazprom-Media acquired NTV, the only nationwide television channel independent of the government at the time, as well as other media assets of Vladimir Gusinsky's Media Most [ru] group – including the satellite operator NTV Plus, TNT, the radio station Echo of Moscow, and the Seven Days [ru] publishing house – which resulted in major controversy and considerable changes to the channel's editorial policy.^[4][5][6][7]

After taking over Media Most in 2000, Gazprom-Media received assets and personnel from Filipp Bobkov's dissolved Fifth Chief Directorate of the KGB,^[a] including its thousands of employees, its database, and the security service founded by Bobkov that had been accused of attempting to assassinate Boris Berezovsky in 1994.^[8][9] The directorate's entire archive had been taken to Media Most.^[10] In 2000, Bobkov created the Institute of Strategic Studies and Analysis (ISSA), a joint stock company. It was led by Vaqif Hüseynov [ru], the former head of the KGB in Azerbaijan, and operated as a think tank and successor to Media Most's security department. Vladimir Zhizhin [ru] chaired the ISSA's board of directors from 2001 to 2002.^[11][12][b]

In 2005, Gazprom-Media purchased Izvestia, a national daily newspaper.^[4] In May 2008, the National Media Group bought a 50.19% stake in Izvestia from Gazprom-Media.^[14][c]

In August 2005, Gazprom-Media Holdings was sold to Gazprombank for 37.22 billion rubles. In 2012, Gazprombank's ownership was split between Gazprom with a 41.73% stake and NPF Gazfond with a 46.92% stake.^[4][2][16] Most of Gazfond's stake was managed by the financial company Lider [ru]. As a part of the SOGAZ insurance company, Lider had been controlled by Rossiya Bank, whose largest shareholder was Yuri Kovalchuk, an associate of Vladimir Putin.^[2][16][17] In March 2014, Rossiya Bank sold its indirect control of Lider to Gazfond, which now owns a 45% stake in Lider.^[16] Since 2003, Gazfond's president has been Yuri Shamalov, who is also the deputy chairman of Gazprombank.^[18][16]

Media assets

Television

• 2×2
• 365 Days TV
• Pyatnitsa!
• Match!
• NTV
• NTV Plus
• TNT
• TNT4
• TV-3
• Subbota! [ru]

Radio (via subsidiary GPM-Radio)

• AvtoRadio
• Comedy Radio
• Detskoe Radio
• Like FM
• NRJ Russia
• Radio Romantika (Moscow exclusive, formerly nationwide)
• Radio Zenit (Saint Petersburg exclusive; joint venture with FC Zenit)
• Relax FM
• Yumor FM

Paper publications

• Seven Days Publishing House^[19]
  • Seven Days (TV guide)^[19][20]
  • Story Caravan (monthly magazine)
  • Story Caravan Collection (monthly magazine)

Internet

• Rutube
• Вокруг ТВ
  • SRSLY
• Sportbox.ru
• УМА-ТЕХ
• Premier
• Getintent
• 2x2.Медиа

Movie and cinema

• Central Partnership
• Comedy Club Production
• Red Media
• NTV-Kino
• October Cinema & Crystal Palace Cinema

Directors general

• Viktor Ilyushin (December 1997 – June 1998)
• Sergey Zverev (June 1998 – May 1999)
• Alexander Astafyev (1999 – 2000)
• Alfred Kokh (June 2000 – October 2001)
• Boris Jordan (October 2001 – January 2003)
• Alexander Dybal (January 2003 – June 2004)
• Nikolay Senkevich (since July 2004)
• Aleksandr Zharov (since March 2020)

Board of directors

• Alexey Miller (chairman)
• Aleksandr Zharov
• Yuri Shamalov
• Alaxey Matveev
• Sergey Kupriyanov
• Sergey Kuznets^[21]

Management

Source:^[22]

• Aleksandr Zharov (CEO, Member of the Board of Directors)
• Svetlana Fefilova (Deputy CEO)
• Yulia Golubeva (Deputy CEO)
• Tina Kandelaki (Deputy CEO)

See also

• Mass media in Russia
• Michael R. Caputo

Notes

1. The Fifth Chief Directorate was responsible for disinformation, control of dissidents, religious groups, and executions.
2. Zhinzhin was close to Arne Treholt.^[13]
3. National Media Group was founded in February 2008. Investors include Severstal with a 26% stake as of 2009, Rossiya Bank with a 35.5% stake at the end of 2012, SOGAZ with a 21.22% stake as of 2015, and Surgutneftegas with a 23.98% stake as of 30 March 2016.^{[citation needed]} Since 2014, the National Media Group has been chaired by Alina Kabaeva, who has a strong relationship with Vladimir Putin.^[15]