The Russian NTV channel (НТВ in Cyrillic) was a pioneer in the post-Soviet independent television media. Vladimir Gusinsky's company attracted the best journalists and news anchors of the time: Tatiana Mitkova, Leonid Parfyonov, Mikhail Osokin, Yevgheniy Kiselyov, Victor Shenderovich and others. The channel set the high professional standards in the Russian television, giving live coverage and sharp analysis of current events. Its political puppet show Kukly (Dolls) has become a signature of the time when the freedom of speech was virtually unlimited.
In June 2000 Gusinsky was detained as a suspect in the General Prosecutor Office's criminal investigation of fraud between his Media-Most holding, the Society with Limited Responsibility "Russkoye Video - 11th channel" and the federal enterprise "Russkoye Video". At the time, Media-Most was involved in a dispute over the loan received from Gazprom.
In a surprisingly informal deal, Gusinsky was let go after signing an agreement with Mikhail Lesin, Minister of Media. Under the agreement, Gusinsky was to sell Media-Most to Gazprom for the price imposed by the latter. After leaving the country, Gusinsky claimed he was pressured to sign the agreement by the prospect of the criminal investigation. Media-Most refused to comply with the agreement.
On April 14, 2001 Gazprom took over NTV by force. Some journalists left the company. Its director was replaced.
Many argued that the financial pressure was inspired by the Vladimir Putin's government which was often subject to NTV's criticism. Within the next couple years other independent TV channels such as TV6 and TVS were shut down.
After moving abroad, Gusinsky established a satellite broadcasting company RTVi giving a critical eye on events in Russia. Many reports for RTVi are produced by the Russia-based TV company Echo. The latest videos and stories can be seen at the newsru.com web site.
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