Alexander Lyubimov will resign from the post of general director of the RBC-TV channel in the next one or two months and will join the board of directors of the RBC holding, reported on Friday. the Vedomosti newspaper

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the RBC holding Derk Sauer confirmed this information to the publication. He told the publication that Lyubimov will no longer be involved in the operational management of the TV channel. He will be involved in building relationships between RBC and government agencies and will personally participate in the formation of the holding’s strategy.

Lyubimov himself also confirmed his resignation from the post of general director of RBC-TV, telling Interfax that this decision was made a long time ago. “After the Paralympics, I slowly began to transfer all matters to my colleague, with whom I worked for many years, Gleb Shagun,” the agency quotes him as saying.

Sauer admitted that Lyubimov and his team did a lot of hard work to bring the RBC channel to a modern format, which can be seen both in the ratings and in the channel’s revenue, which are growing at a very noticeable pace. He told the newspaper that the holding’s management is currently undergoing reform in order to fully realize the potential of the RBC brand, structure and systematize business processes. Sauer expressed hope that Lyubimov will continue to influence the future of the entire holding, including strengthening the influence of the RBC brand in the media sphere.

Lyubimov will be replaced as head of RBC TV by Gleb Shagun, currently working as the general producer of the channel. Shogun will take the position of Managing Director of RBC-TV.

Lyubimov was appointed to the position of general director of the RBC-TV channel in mid-November 2011. He then promised to turn RBC into “a full-fledged organ of Russia’s entrepreneurial class” and make “television very modern, bright, with modern visual solutions.”

Lyubimov became known during the years of perestroika as one of the authors and hosts of the “Vzglyad” program. He held senior positions at the VID television company, Channel One and VGTRK, hosted original programs, and was involved in producing activities.

In 2011, Lyubimov left the media business to take an active part in reforming Right Cause after billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov (the controlling owner of the RBC holding) assumed the post of party leader. In September of the same year, Lyubimov left the party following Prokhorov.

The RBC TV channel began broadcasting in 2003. Over the two and a half years that Lyubimov headed it, the channel’s average monthly audience coverage increased, according to TNS, by almost a third (to 22.6 million). Revenue increased by 16% (to 353 million rubles), the newspaper cites data from the holding’s reporting.

Alexander Lyubimov will resign as CEO of RBC-TV