Kyiv Weekly, one of the few homegrown English-language newspapers in Ukraine, will put out its final issue on Feb. 20 to conclude a 12-year run, staff members informed the Kyiv Post, citing an announcement made by acting general manager Serhiy Nazarov.
The decision to close the newspaper was made by the still-unknown new owners of Evolution Media, the
holding that publishes Kyiv Weekly. The announcement was made to the staff on Feb. 11.
Editor-in-chief Evan Ostryzniuk and managing editor Elena
Kolomijcenko were dismissed in January. The
publication comprises 24 pages, prints 25,000 copies and is distributed
throughout Ukraine. It has an editorial staff size of four, publishing mostly translated articles from the holding’s sister publications.
Evolution Media, publisher of the Russian-Ukrainian political-economic weekly
Kommentarii, and internet projects UGMK.info and comments.ua, has been
under a cloud since Ukrainian multi-millionaire businessman Vitaliy Haiduk sold
the holding in early December last year. General manager Yulia Litvinova
resigned a few days later after she refused to acquiesce to the new owner’s
editorial policy, according to her Dec. 6 resignation letter.
The identity of the new owner or new owners was never revealed to either Litvinova,
according to her letter, or the staff. However, Litvinova
was convinced that Evolution Media had been bought by VETEK Media, a holding company
owned by Serhiy Kurchenko, a person considered close to President Viktor
Yanukovych’s inner circle.
VETEK denies that it bought Evolution Media. Haiduk was unavailable for
comment.
However, the individuals who visited Litvinova on behalf of the new
owner were lawyers working for Brokbiznesbank, which is owned by Kurchenko’s VETEK,
she said. The change in editorial policy began with the Dec. 5 issue of
Kommentarii, which was unusually critical of opposition politicians.
Kommentarii will continue to publish.
Kyiv Weekly was founded in 2002 by Vadym Marchuk, son of the ex-Security
Services of Ukraine head and former Prime Minister Yevhen Marchuk. Haiduk bought the newspaper in
2005.
