Forbes reported the resignation of Mikhail Lesin

Continued: Gazprom Media confirms the resignation of Mikhail Lesin

Mikhail Lesin will leave the post of chairman of the board of the Gazprom Media holding, Forbes reports. The decision on his resignation was made by Russian President Vladimir Putin a week ago. The press service of the holding did not confirm this information. Officially, the resignation of the media manager may be announced on December 19.

Vedomosti reports that Mikhail Lesin submitted his resignation letter on December 12, and Aleksey Miller, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom Media, accepted it. On December 18, this was reported to the top managers of Gazprom Media. According to Lesin's acquaintance, the resignation is connected with Lesin's "personal circumstances".

According to Dozhd , the reason for the resignation was Lesin's public conflict with the editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy (part of Gazprom Media) Alexei Venediktov. According to the channel's source, "President Putin does not like it when his managers become involved in major scandals."

According to RBC , the main owner of Rossiya Bank, Yuri Kovalchuk, who has a great influence on the media market, “could become” the initiator of the resignation. According to the publication's sources, Kovalchuk's dissatisfaction was caused by the fact that Lesin spent too much money on acquiring the assets of ProfMedia. In addition, according to RBC, Lesin turned against himself the leaders of Channel One and NTV.

Dozhd reports that Dmitry Chernyshenko, who was the head of the bidding committee for the Sochi Olympics, and now manages the Volga Group (combines the assets of Gennady Timchenko), was offered to head Gazprom Media. Chernyshenko, appointed president of the Continental Hockey League at the end of November, allegedly refused. According to Vedomosti, the parties failed to agree on the appointment of Chernyshenko.

The decision to resign Lesin was made a week ago, a person familiar with the situation knows. According to the source, the decision to dismiss Lesin was made personally by President Vladimir Putin.

Forbes

• Mikhail Lesin headed Gazprom Media in the fall of 2013. Under Lesin, the holding acquired the media assets of ProfMedia for $602 million. In addition, Lesin carried out a personnel reform and reformed the advertising service.
• In November 2014, Lesin had a conflict with the editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy Alexei Venediktov. Lesin demanded the dismissal of journalist Alexander Plyushchev, who asked on his Twitter if the death of the son of the head of the presidential administration, Sergei Ivanov, was a manifestation of supreme justice. Lesin also threatened to fire Venediktov himself if he did not fire Plyushchev. As a result, the journalist was simply suspended from work for two months, and Ekho Moskvy was ordered to develop a code of conduct in social networks for its employees.
• Opposition leader Alexei Navalny accused Mikhail Lesin of money laundering. According to an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Foundation, Lesin, being an official, bought real estate in the United States for $ 28 million. US Senator Roger Vicker asked the US Attorney General to check this information for violations of anti-corruption laws. The case file has been turned over to the FBI.
• Mikhail Lesin is the founder of Video International, the largest advertising agency in Russia. In addition, he held senior positions in RIA Novosti, VGTRK, Channel One, and was also the Minister of Press and Presidential Advisor.
• Gazprom Media is a subsidiary of Gazprombank, almost half of which is owned by NPF Gazfond. The assets of Gazfond are managed by the Lider company, a large share in which Yury Kovalchuk owned before the imposition of sanctions against him.
• Gazprom Media includes the television companies NTV, TNT, Pyatnitsa, 2x2, TV-3, Comedy TV; radio stations Echo of Moscow, CITY-FM, Relax-FM, Children's Radio, Comedy Radio, Avtoradio, Romantika, Humor FM, 101.ru, Energy; publishing house "Seven days" and other assets.
• Read also: "I have to drive through this situation with the usual characteristics of a bulldozer." Meeting Lesin with "Echo of Moscow". Decryption