In the late 1980s, the New York firm National Video Industry attempted to establish its Moscow subsidiary Video Industry but could not obtain a proper registration although the firm had printed stationery and stored them in Moscow warehouses. In 1988 as head of the () founded 1988 cooperative "Igrotekhnika" () which produced television shows, Mikhail Lesin became aware of the items, obtained them, and with support from Yuri Zapol (), Akopov, and others he established Video International through Ingrotekhnika and RTR (Russia Television and Radio which is often called "Russia") () and obtained a studio in Spain to upgrade its video equipment and editing techniques after the horrible presentation in Russia of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. In the early 1990s, Lesin set up , which became a multibillion-dollar advertising agency with exclusive advertising rights on NTV and in 2015 was still one of Russia's largest agencies. In 1994, he left Video International. From 1993 to 1996, he was Head of Commercial Department, Deputy General Director and General Director of RIA Novosti. At this position in Novosti, he was pivotal in the Russian parliamentary elections of 1995 and especially the re-election campaign of Yeltsin in the 1996 Russian presidential elections. He began the slogan "Voice of the Heart", authored "I believe I do, I hope," and "Save and Protect", and provided the president's weekly radio address to the country. From September 1996 until February 1997, he was head of Public Relations for the President of Russia under Yeltsin.