RUSSIA: MOSCOW TAX AUTHORITIES ASK COURT TO LIQUIDATE KEY OUTLETS OF VLADIMIR GUSINSKY'S MEDIA-MOST EMPIRE.

Record ID: 648053

  • Title: RUSSIA: MOSCOW TAX AUTHORITIES ASK COURT TO LIQUIDATE KEY OUTLETS OF VLADIMIR GUSINSKY'S MEDIA-MOST EMPIRE.
  • Date: 16th December 2000
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (DECEMBER 15, 2000)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV: VARIOUS OF MEDIA MOST HEADQUARTERS (NIGHT SHOTS) (2 SHOTS) 0.11 2. MV/CU: VARIOUS OF YEVGENY KISELYOV, HEAD OF NTV, AT TABLE (3 SHOTS) 0.34 3. MCU: (SOUNDBITE)(English) YEVGENY KISELYOV, HEAD OF NTV SAYING: "This is the beginning of a new well-planned government attack on independent media and the last remains of democratic freedoms in this country. Look there's NTV, several newspapers and magazines, couple of radio stations and that's all. These are the last remnants of a free press that still have the courage to criticize the president, the government and Prosecutor's General office, local governors etc."/ CUTAWAY/ KISELYOV SAYING: "I think that they're really obsessed with the idea of getting rid of NTV. It's an obsession, you know, it's a kind of phobia, or mania, I don't know what. But this is something, not just pure politics, it's something about insanity as well."/ CUTAWAY/ KISELYOV SAYING: "I think Mr. Putin is the key figure in all the campaigns against Media-Most and NTV. According to my knowledge this is his ultimate goal. He's a kind of a person that ... it's like the Chechen war , you know, he's a kind of a person that sets a goal and will not stop until he reaches that goal." (4 SHOTS) 2.39 4. CU: NTV FLAG 2.46 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 31st December 2000 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Reuters ID: LVA1ZWQSMBO69WUEOMT4P9QDK52N
  • Story Text: A Moscow district tax authority has asked a court to
    liquidate several key outlets of Russia's leading independent
    media empire - Media-Most, including NTV television. The
    group's head, Vladimir Gusinsky, is wanted by the Russian
    Prosecutor General's office for fraud.



    Russian authorities piled the pressure on businessman
    Vladimir Gusinsky on Friday (December 15), threatening to wind
    up key parts of his media empire and seize his foreign
    property in efforts to extradite him from Spain.

    The fresh pressure came hours after the office of the
    General Prosecutor said it was trying to seize Gusinsky's
    foreign property as part of the extradition battle, which the
    media boss is fighting from a Spanish jail cell.

    The tax office was quoted as saying it wanted to liquidate
    NTV, the only independent nationwide television station, and
    the others companies as they were insolvent.

    But Media-Most denies having any unpaid debts after it
    gave up a large chunk of its shares to gas giant Gazprom this
    year.

    Prime-Tass news agency quoted a Moscow court as saying a
    hearing on the case would be held no earlier than January. It
    said the bid to wind up NTV would be heard on January 17.

    Head of NTV Yevgeny Kiselyov said on Friday (December 15)
    that he regarded the action as the "beginning of a new
    well-planned government attack on independent media and the
    last remains of democratic freedoms" in Russia.

    "I think that they're really obsessed with the idea of
    getting rid of NTV." he said.

    Kiselyov called President Putin the "key figure" in the
    anti-Media Most campaign.

    The request to liquidate NTV, the publishing house Sem
    Dnei and the mother company Media-Most had been filed on
    December 9.

    Media-Most's outlets have been fierce critics of President
    Vladimir Putin and a thorn in the Kremlin's side since last
    year.

    The extradition fight and moves against his companies
    comes after around a year of official pressure, including
    Gusinsky's brief stay in jail in June.

    NTV is the most influential of his holdings and is the
    only one of three nationwide TV stations not under state
    control. It has been freer in its criticism of the
    authorities, particularly during the first Chechen war, than
    other channels.

    The persistent pressure on Gusinsky has caused worries
    that Putin is trying to stamp out press freedom. Putin's
    statements have been equivocal. On the one hand he has said
    that press freedom is a vital part of post-Soviet society and
    on the other he has attacked media owners for acting "against
    the state".

    In a fresh round of the extradition, prosecutors said they
    intended to seize Gusinsky's foreign property, including a
    villa in southern Spain where he was arrested on Tuesday.

    Gusinsky was put in a Spanish jail on an international
    arrest order launched by Russia, which wants to extradite him
    on fraud charges, which he denies.


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