New Media Holding By RAO UES
Russia's Unified Energy System (RAO UES) announced it set up its own media holding, Kommersant.Ru reported. The company is based on REN-TV network. REN-TV head Irina Lesnevskaya will run the holding. Former chief of the Union Of Right Forces executive committee Boris Minz was appointed holding director general.
According to Kommersant.Ru, RAO UES head Anatoly Chubais will preside holding's board of directors. There have been no official comments by the RAO so far.
The REN-TV was founded in 1991 by Irina and Dmitry Lesnevsky. The company has it own television channel and quite wide regional network.
RAO UES's subsidiaries bought out 70% of REN-TV shares from Russia's oil corporation Lukoil in October 2000. They paid about $40m for the shares, the newspaper says. The founders own the rest - 30%.
After the deal Chubais stated that the RAO was going to sell out its media assets. But then a different decision was made. The newspaper was told at the RAO that the company had no political aims.
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