Ilya Bulavinov will be the chief editor of Vedomosti

The publication will be headed by the former top manager of Kommersant, RIA Novosti and Channel One

On March 22, it was announced that Ilya Bulavinov, a journalist who once worked as the first deputy editor of Kommersant, and then headed the sites of RIA Novosti and Channel One, would be the new editor of the newspaper Vedomosti, instead of Tatyana Lysova. Four members of the board of directors from seven voted for Bulavinov; Three supported the candidacy nominated by the editorial office - the head of the site Vedomosti.ru Ekaterina Derbilova.

The decision on the appointment of Ilya Bulavinov was made by the Board of Directors of Vedomosti. Shortly before the name of the new editor-in-chief was announced, the publication Rambler News Service reported that two people claimed the position-Ilya Bulavinov and the chief editor of the site Vedomosti.ru Ekaterina Derbilova.

As Vedomosti himself later reported, Derbilova was nominated by the editorial office and the current editor -in -chief of the newspaper Tatyana Lysova (her resignation was known since the fall of 2016). According to the charter of the publication, at least half of the employees must vote for the candidate from the editorial office for nomination; Ekaterina Derbilov was supported by 87% of the team. Bulavinov’s candidacy was proposed by Demyan Kudryavtsev, a representative of the owner of Vedomosti (his family is officially owned by the newspaper), and the general director of Kommersant Publishing House.

According to a member of the Board of Directors of Vedomosti, the HSE professor Anna Kachkaeva, the council meeting lasted two and a half hours. Four members of the board of directors from seven voted for Ilya Bulavinov. According to its results, it was decided that the contract with the new chief of the publication is concluded for two years.

As Demyan Kudryavtsev said after the meeting, Tatyana Lysova will remain in the Council of Directors of Vedomosti at least until the end of 2017. A source in the publication told Medusa that the meeting of the new editor -in -chief with the team will be held on March 23.

Who is Ilya Bulavinov

Bulavinov was born in Moscow in 1973, studied at a military university and at the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University. From 1993 to 2013, he worked in the Kommersant Publishing House, including a correspondent of the policy department, the head of the socio-political bloc, the first deputy editor and editor-in-chief of Kommersant.ru. Bulavinov also oversaw the creation of Kommersant-TV and the Kommersant FM radio station.

In April 2013, Ilya Bulavinov left Kommersant and headed the website of the State Information Agency RIA Novosti, where, according to the head of RIA Svetlana Mironyuk, to create a “new paradigm of the existence of the flagship site”. As the editor-in-chief of the site, Bulavinov sometimes published columns-for example, about the 20th anniversary of the Constitution of the Russian Federation or about how Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin cares about Muscovites .

In May 2014, five months after the transformation of RIA Novosti into the MIA Russia Today, Bulavinov went to Channel One, where he headed the directorate of online broadcasting. In particular, in this post, Bulavinov was engaged in opposition to the illegal distribution of Channel One content. RNS sources, which reported Bulavinov’s nomination to the post of chief editor of Vedomosti, characterized him as “a person with the experience of the leadership and with Djital-experiment”.

How was Bulavinov's appointment

Anna Kachkaeva, a member of the Board of Directors of Vedomosti, told how a meeting of the board of directors took place. “It was an absolutely democratic procedure,” Kachkayeva told the Medusa correspondent. - The guys [from Vedomosti] made a small video explaining their choice in favor of Katya [Derbilova]. The conversation was about whether the external candidate with the perspective and strategy - or the internal one would maintain adherence to the internal [team rules]. The responsibility to all crushed - we even reproached Demyan and Tatyana for not converging in one candidate. The intrigue was all the time, there are no complaints about the organization. ”

Kudryavtsev also says that he did not know the results of the vote before they were announced - and that the choice was precisely between the two “concepts” of the development of the publication, and not between the individuals. “[The choice stood:] It is necessary to put the internal [person] to ensure greater continuity and more comfort-or you need to put the external hand as an agent of changes, as an impulse that will set some new vectors,” explained Kudryavtsev “Medusa”. - I generally always for expansion, development, changes. I did this at all my places of work. I believe that in this market updates and changes are extremely important. At the same time, there are periods when conservation and protection are also important. That is why I asked Tanya to stay. Not for two years, but as much as she wants. She had an unlimited contract, I had no right to dismiss her. These years were years old. ” Bulavinova Kudryavtsev calls "the highest moral authority and professional in his field."

According to Kudryavtsev, the procedure for the election of the chief editor, which was fixed in the Charter of Vedomosti, was important for him and Lysova, but has not yet been applied. “This charter was invented two years ago, when Tanya was not going anywhere - exactly so that this procedure was truly democratic,” explained the representative of Vedomosti. - It took many nerves. I do not know another shareholder of a publishing house who would put his candidate under a procedure in which there are risks and doubts. Moreover: this procedure itself is forced to consolidate the editors against any other candidate. ”

Ekaterina Derbilova told Medusa that the most important thing for her is the vote within the editorial office. “I am incredibly grateful for this support and trust,” she said. “I knew that she was, but I did not know that it was.” Derbilova thanked the editorial office and members of the board of directors who supported her, and said that now she was not ready to answer any other questions.

Of the six Vedomosti journalists, to which Medusa turned to the comment, only a few agreed to describe the decision of the board of directors. “For the editorial office it was, of course, a shock,” said one of the sources of Medusa. According to him, those who do not know Bulavinov immediately noticed that he worked on Channel One and in RIA Novosti; Others noted that he is one of the best representatives of the old Kommersant School. Demyan Kudryavtsev answered the questions of the editorial office of Vedomosti for more than an hour; Tatyana Lysova was silent at that time.

“As I am confident in my candidate, I am so confident in the wisdom and adulthood of this edition,” Kudryavtsev told the Medusa correspondent. “They will ask hard, but they will hear what I say, and they will continue to draw their conclusions themselves.” It will take some time, they did not agree with me, but they did what they could. "

What are they say about the new editor -in -chief of Vedomosti his colleagues

Maxim Kovalsky , former editor-in-chief of Kommersant-Vlast magazine:

“I found out about this a minute ago and I am in some admiration. Great purpose. Ilya worked in Kommersant for a hundred years when he wrote to Power, he was my favorite author. Iron logic, objectivity, unbiasedness - all the best that Kommersant grown is collected in Ilya. From a professional point of view, it simply cannot be nothing better. It is unlikely that his eyes have changed. I see this way: collaboration is a certain scale. He has more values ​​than plus and minus. For each point on this scale there is an explanation. ”

Leonid Burshid , first editor -in -chief of Vedomosti:

“I did not base this newspaper. Peskov can probably give a good comment. In the newspaper in which I worked, on the first page it was written about shareholders: The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. And in this nothing seems to be written. I don't know anything about her. ”

Elizabeth Ossetian , former editor -in -chief of Vedomosti

“The appointment is unexpected in the sense that I thought someone would be from the inside, I was almost sure that Katya Derbilova would be appointed. Ilya Bulavinov is a professional journalist with vast experience, we were negotiating with him about his transition to RBC, but in the end did not work out. Probably, the owner has some kind of plan, some idea that Ilya, who had been drifting in the General Interest in the “Vedomosti”, which should be brought to the “Vedomosti”. But what this plan is unclear. Of course, it was smiled about the inherence from outside ( Kudryavtsev, representing Bulavinov, said that he was “not subject to any pressure from the outside” - approx. “Medusa” ). But you need to judge by business. ”

Oleg Kashin , a former special correspondent of Kommersant ID ( Facebook ):

“My last year and a half in Kommersant is primarily Bulavinov, every day I handed over all the columns for the radio. It was a very nervous period, marsh and so on, I then had a rather hellish period, ending with my dismissal, and on occasion, I will be happy to tell you about those editors and managers “Kommersant” who were ******** [bad people] and ghouls. Bulavinov is the person about whom I can’t say anything at all. Any pressure, censorship, anything - at any moment he was the only one you can rely on. <...> In general, do not speculate and do not injure. "Vedomosti" should be restrained. "

Konstantin Benyumov, Ilya Zhegulev, Alexander Polivanov