In the event of a split vote in the commission, it is the media minister who decides to whom a license is awarded. Lesin was called in to break the tie, and he chose TV Tsentr. Vid's head, Aleksandr Lyubimov did not seem too surprised. Details of the June negotiations among Luzhkov and Lesin have not been made public. There has been speculation over what Luzhkov and TV Tsentr had offered in exchange for the ministry's support.
Most Russian experts believe that the talks dealt with both political and business issues.
Following Putin's election, Russian analysts predicted a downfall for Luzhkov's political and business interests. Some said that Luzhkov's best option would be trying to reach a compromise with the Kremlin. The Moscow mayor, however, is seen as a lukewarm ally. He has cautiously criticized Putin's drive to cut the powers of regional governors, and in August publicly attacked the 2001 draft budget for the government's plans to take more tax revenues out of the regions. He said that as a result, the Moscow city government will not be able to carry out important maintenance work on the capital's crumbling infrastructure and predicted that thousands of jobs will have to be cut.