Ekho Moskvy, a pioneering independent Moscow radio station that became a popular source of news and political talk in recent years, is fighting a potential takeover by the powerful state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom, which recently took over a sister television network. At the offices of Ekho Moskvy, prosecutors swoop in regularly, demanding documents and inside financial information.
Advertisers are jittery, canceling contracts and putting off big campaigns.
Earlier this month, a court appeared to hand a majority stake in the station to Gazprom. The script is eerily familiar to the takeover of NTV, the independent television network seized by Gazprom last month. Caught up in the collapse of exiled tycoon Vladimir Gusinsky's media empire, the radio station is a whirlwind of activity these days as it tries to fend off Gazprom. In Venediktov's cubbyhole of an office, he buzzes with plans to buy his independence, but complains that Gazprom won't set a price without a political signal from the Kremlin. We are the last national, non-state information company.