Kyiv Post, Ukraine’s leading English-language newspaper since 1995, has been purchased by Mohammad Zahoor, a United Kingdom businessman who owns the ISTIL Group.
Kyiv Post, Ukraine’s leading English-language newspaper since 1995, has been purchased by Mohammad Zahoor, a United Kingdom businessman who owns the ISTIL Group.
Zahoor bought the newspaper from its founder and sole owner, American Jed Sunden, who announced the sale in a noon meetingon July 29to Kyiv Post staff members. A representative of Zahoor, project director Jim Phillipoff, attended the meeting.
In announcing the acquisition, Zahoor pledged to continue and strengthen Kyiv Post traditions of independent and investigative journalism.
“We believe that the best years of the Kyiv Post lie ahead, and we have great plans for the brand’s development, in print, on the Internet and with other media as well,” Zahoor said. “We are committed to upholding the Kyiv Post’s high standards of independent journalism, and will continue to allow the editors the freedom that they previously enjoyed. We recognize that the Kyiv Post was one of the few truly independent voices in Ukrainian media since its inception, which is why it enjoys almost unparalleled trust among its readership.”
ISTIL Group is active in real estate, media, telecommunications, film production and television production, among other businesses in Ukraine and elsewhere. ISTIL stands for International Steel & Tube Industries, Ltd. The company has offices in Kyiv and was founded by Zahoor in 1991.
A native of Pakistan, Zahoor earned his fortune in steel production and trading in Donetsk.About a year ago, he sold the steel business and has been investing into other areas, building up an impressive and diversified portfolio of assets.
The two sides had been negotiating the sale intensively for the last two months and Sunden said he entertained other bids.
The sale includes both the newspaper and the Kyiv Postwebsite, whose audience internationally and within Ukraine has been growing dramatically since a mid-September upgrade. The newspaper currently employs 22 people in news, advertising, marketing, distribution and accounting. Zahoor expressed interest in hiring additional staff members to expand and improve the newspaper.
While the print version of the newspaper is published every Friday, the website is now continuously updated with staff reports andstories from Reuters, Associated Press, Interfax and other news services.
The deal brings to an end a 14-year era of Kyiv Post ownership by Sunden. The newspaper started with humble origins only four years into Ukraine’s independence. But its reputation as a beacon of independent journalism and its financial success grew quickly.
In announcing the sale, Sunden said that money (neither side disclosed the sales price) wasn’t the only factor in selling to ISTIL Group. Sunden said that he believes that the Kyiv Post will be “in good hands” under Zahoor’s ownership.
The Kyiv Post was the first publication in Sunden’s KP Media company, which has grown to includenumerous other publications and websites. Other KP Media properties include the Russian-language Korrespondent magazine and website, BigMir, Afisha and Kyiv Business Directory.
Zahoor also said he has “the highest respect for the people at KP Media, and wish them the best of success in the future.”
