New Russian Business Daily Announced

Posted on April 7, 1999

The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and Independent Media, publisher of the Moscow Times, announced that they will jointly launch a Russian business newspaper in August. The new publication, the name of which is yet to be finally determined, will be published in the Russian language daily, Tuesday through Saturday; while intended to become a national daily, its initial circulation will be centered in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The new publication will draw primarily from original content created by a dedicated staff of 20 Russian reporters and editors and also from content from The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal translated into Russian. The newspaper will be owned one-third each by Dow Jones & Company, publisher of The Wall Street Journal; Pearson plc, publisher of The Financial Times; and Independent Media, publisher of The Moscow Times and the Russian editions of such leading titles as Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, and Men's Health magazines.

Leonid Bershidsky will serve as editor of the new publication. Bershidsky, 27, is currently business editor of The Moscow Times. Tony Robinson, former Moscow bureau chief for The Financial Times, will serve as consulting editor, overseeing the newspaper's use of Wall Street Journal and Financial Times news content on a day-to-day basis, while Wall Street Journal Europe editor Frederick Kempe will also serve as supervisory editor. Derk Sauer, CEO of Independent Media, will be managing director and publisher of the publication. The joint venture will be overseen by a six-person board of directors, with two representatives from each of Independent Media, Pearson and Dow Jones.

Derk Sauer, CEO of Independent Media, said, "We feel that as one of the leading publishing houses in Russia, and with a reputation for independent journalism, Independent Media can contribute a lot to this joint venture. And we are of course thrilled to be the first Russian publisher to work together with both The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal."