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Russia's TV6 staff forms new firm
MOSCOW, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- A group of around 50 journalists working for Russia's embattled TV6 television network, which has been ordered shut down by two courts, have established a new company in a bid to stay on the air by dumping their main shareholder, network sources said Tuesday.
The group of journalists and anchors has decided to form a new limited company and will apply for a temporary broadcasting license from the Media Ministry, TV6 spokeswoman Tatyana Blinova said.
TV6 Executive Director Pavel Korchagin told the Kommersant business daily that he had sent a letter to Media Minister Mikhail Lesin requesting that a license be awarded the new company, which has excluded TV6's main shareholder, the self-exiled tycoon Boris Berezovsky.
Berezovsky controls around 75 percent of TV6 and has led an increasingly vocal crusade against the Kremlin after publicly falling out with President Vladimir Putin.
Two courts have ruled to shut down TV6 because of losses incurred over several years, after a minority shareholder, LUKoil-Garant -- a pension fund owned by Russia's largest oil company LUKoil -- took its case to court to shut the network down. The Kremlin has denied involvement in the case, which proceeded swiftly to conclusion despite the reputation for mountains of red tape associated with Russia's unreformed legal system.
The Bush administration has expressed regret with the court ruling to shut down TV6 and indicated that political pressure had been applied, but the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded statement accusing Washington of "double standards," and Putin, in an interview with Polish media, insisted that the dispute was between shareholders.
Lesin said he was encouraged by the journalists' move to rid themselves of Berezovsky as he considered the dispute which led to the closure of TV6 a matter between shareholders LUKoil and Berezovsky. He said the chances of the new company gaining a temporary broadcasting license were rated as "very high," but cautioned that they may have acted hastily in canceling their existing license.
According to a ruling of Russia's Supreme Arbitration Court passed last Friday, TV6 must be liquidated no matter what. The process is expected to take about six months, and the Media Ministry had been expected to allow the network to continue broadcasting while a tender for the air frequency is announced. LUKoil has indicated an interest in setting up a network on the same frequency, but media analysts say the company running the station even temporarily has the greatest chance of winning the tender, providing TV6 staff with a ray of hope.
Berezovsky said he had no grudge against the staff of TV6 for dumping him, but called their decision to give up the fight against the courts "a sign of weakness."
"These people have suffered a lot," Berezovsky told Kommersant, which he also owns.
The tycoon said he had no reason to trust Lesin and warned the TV6 staff that by applying for a temporary license from the Media Ministry, they were putting their future at stake.
The closure of TV6, Russia's last national independent television network, leaves the country with state-owned RTR and ORT networks and the NTV network, which was taken over last spring by management linked to the natural gas monopoly Gazprom, which is part-owned by the state.
Most of the current staff of TV6 fled NTV after the management takeover.
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