Akhmetov: Segodnya newspaper must become stronger

There should not be winners or losers in the situation in the Segodnya newspaper, Ukrainian businessman Rinat Akhmetov has told Interfax-Ukraine while commenting on a recent conflict in the editorial office. "I'm glad that democratic values have been established in our newspaper. The employees have their position. And the employees are not afraid to insist on it. I respect this. There should be neither winners nor losers in this situation," he said.

"There should be one result: the newspaper has to win. It has to become even stronger. I believe in the newspaper. It has a very professional team. And my philosophy is simple: strong people mean a strong newspaper," Akhmetov added.

In early December, the editorial office of the Segodnya newspaper declared that it was on the verge of a strike and demanded the dismissal of Segodnya Multimedia Director General Olena Hromnytska.

In turn, the supervisory board of the newspaper launched an investigation into the conflict between the managements of the newspaper and Segodnya Multimedia, which accused each other of corruption, violation of professional standards, and using unreliable information.

Earlier, the media development director at CJSC SCM, Kateryna Lapshyna, said that independent experts would participate in the investigation.

The supervisory board of CJSC Segodnya Multimedia temporarily dismissed Segodnya Multimedia Director General Olena Hromnytska and Segodnya daily newspaper Editor-in-Chief Ihor Huzhva for the period of the investigation.