LONDON (Brand Republic) – US media tycoon and Time Warner vice-chairman Ted Turner is in negotiations to buy a 25% stake in Russian independent TV network NTV, a division of Media Most.
The deal, which must be approved by Russian president Vladimir Putin, would help Media Most pay off its remaining debts to Russia’s natural gas supplier OAOGazprom.
Gazprom invested in various Media Most divisions, including NTV of which it owns 46%, to help the media group out of financial difficulty. It guaranteed a series of loans issued by Credit Suisse First Boston in 1998 to Media Most.
Media Most is currently at the centre of a political wrangle because its founder Vladimir Gusinsky is living in voluntary exile in Spain following charges of embezzlement.
If the Russian government allowed a foreign investor to take a stake in Media Most it would dampen accusations that Putin is trying to silence the country’s independent media.