A logotype Izvestiya is attached to a building of the newspaper's office in Moscow on June 3.

The move has been seen as another step toward the Kremlin's control of Russia's privately held media, though Gazprom said no immediate changes were planned.

The details of the purchase, from metals tycoon Vladimir Potanin's media wing, were not disclosed, though market players polled before the announcement put the value of the deal at between $10 million and $20 million. The paper has a daily print run of over 230,000.

"For us, it was of great importance to acquire a respected publication like Izvestia," said Nikolai Senkevich, general director of Gazprom Media.

Observers had suggested that Potanin might be seeking to ditch the paper to stay on the right side of President Vladimir Putin.

While Gazprom was used as the tool to wrest control of the fiercely Kremlin-critical NTV television station from its exiled owner, media tycoon Vladimir Gusinsky, some suggest the paper wouldn't shed its liberal credentials.

"The strategy behind the expansion of Gazprom's media business appears to be providing a softer, less propagandistic political line more palatable to the educated public and designed to dispose that part of the electorate toward continuity when it comes to the next round of elections," an analyst said.

The Japan Times Weekly: June 11, 2005
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