Also Berezovsky had a certain influence on Nezavisimaya Gazeta. He supported NG financially from the name of United Bank. Together with his partner Oleg Boyko Berezovsky sponsored the Ogonek journal. Actually its editor-in-chief was the former head of Yeltsin’s administration V. Yumashev. In 1997 Berezovsky did not refute the information that he supported financially Igor Golembiovsk’s Izvestia. Then when I. Golembiovsk, O. Latzis and others who have left Izvestia have created Novye Izvestia Berezovsky became its principal sponsor. When the founder of Kommersant Vladimir Yakovlev decided to sell his publication Berezovsky acquired 15% of Kommersant’s shares. The company American Capital started to control 85% of the shares. Presently Berezovsky’s media holding has shrunk like shagreen leather and the rests were united into Logovaz News Corporation. In the present case we want to know how Berezovsky lost ORT. This is how it happened.
Despite the fact that Berezovsky and his channel ORT occupied a pro-Putin position on the March 2000 presidential elections, the attempts to take away the channel from him began in summer 2000 and coincide with the attacks on Gusinsky. If Gusinsky was against Putin’s candidacy Berezovsky supported him. However it turned out that Putin does not have gratitude feelings. On September 4th BBC announced: “The famous Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky told that he intends to transfer his share holding of the ORT television company to journalists and other representatives of the artistic intelligentsia. Berezovsky said this in a letter to Russia’s president Vladimir Putin entitled: ‘About freedom of speech and ORT share’ and published by several media.”
“ The president wants to direct ORT himself’ supposedly said some ‘high representative of the Kremlin’ to the businessman. According to Berezovsky he was presented with an ultimatum – either to give away ORT or to ‘follow Gusinsky’.
According to him the cause of such a situation is Vladimir Putin’s discontent with ORT’s coverage of the Kursk crisis. Like Berezovsky said in his letter, the ultimatum he was presented with puts under question the existence of independent mass media in Russia. ‘If I accept the ultimatum there will be no more televised information in Russia, it will be replaced with televised propaganda’, the businessman writes. ‘Despite all the shortcomings and problems that Russia suffers there are some undisputable achievements and the most important of them is that millions of people ceased to fear the power and the power is forced to be accountable to the people in some way. This became possible first of all thanks to the mass media independent from the power. For the first time in decades people have found justice against the policeman, the bureaucrat and the boss.”
Addressing president Putin Berezovsky writes: “ By putting the mass media under administrative control you will return fear into our life. We will be afraid of the house manager again.” He also proposed the government to follow his example so that the Public Russian television “corresponds to its name”: “Release ORT!”
Russia’s government controls 51% of ORT shares. The businessman has 49%.
The Kremlin’s press service refused to comment the information that Berezovsky gives away his shareholding. In June Boris Berezovsky left the State Duma and a little later he announced his plans to create a new political movement oppositional to the Kremlin.”
It was supposed that Berezovsky’s shares would be transferred to the General Director of the company, Konstantin Ernst, the journalist Sergey Dorenko and the former ORT General Director Igor Shabdurasulov. Commenting this decision Shabdurasulov said on Echo of Moscow that the rest of ORT shares could be transferred not only to ORT employees and media controlled by Berezovsky but also to other persons: “This can be the most surprising figures from the journalistic community”.
The speaker of Moscow’s Duma Platonov called Berezovsky’s decision “a small ruse”. But the Kremlin was not satisfied with such an ORT. Putin wanted to have everything. Further I give the floor to Badri Patarkatzishvili. I cite his interview in Kommersant on 07.04.01. I remind that Patarkatzishvili is Berezovsky’s business partner. Here is how the events unfolded according to Patarkatzishvili:
“The power decided to pressure Berezovsky using pressure on his close people. And on December 7th 2000 the former deputy general director of Aeroflot and our common friend Nikolay Glushkov was arrested without any visible grounds. A bit later it became clear that they are not able to make Glushkov give false testimonies and the Aeroflot case started to crumble. The accusations Glushkov was charged with were rapidly changing. Why all this fuss if you have a consistent accusation?” The Kommersant journalist asks: “You have mentioned attempts to pressure Berezovsky. Why did they pressure him? What is their goal?”
– Before and after Nikolay’s arrest they were pressuring Boris and me in order to “exchange” the closing of the Aeroflot case for ORT shares. And when Glushkov was arrested we agreed to this. We sold our ORT shares. Alexander Voloshin promised that they would release Glushkov. He lied.
– To whom he promised that?
– To me.
– Personally, by phone?
– Through a person both Voloshin and I trust.
Let us stop to comprehend this information. It turns out that the president and his people take close associates of businessmen in hostages (in Gusinsky’s case it was Anton Titov and in Berezovsky’s case it was Glushkov. Two other employees of Aeroflot were arrested with him), and like Chechen terrorists or gangsters demand a ransom for the kidnapped person. In this case they demand company shares. Moreover, as Patarkatzishvili explains, the Kremlin made a mistake; in real fact Berezovsky was never linked to Aeroflot. Here is Patarkatzishvili’s explanation: “The Aeroflot case investigated since 1998 was cooked by a direct order of Primakov when he was prime minister and directed against Berezovsky. Dependently from Berezovsky’s relationship with the power it was closed and reopened again. When Berezovsky helped Putin on the elections the Prosecutor General closed down the case. When he went against Putin it reopened it. But since Berezovsky never worked in the Aeroflot it was impossible to tie him to this case, no matter how hard the Prosecutor General worked.
– But I am associating Berezovsky with Aeroflot too, the journalist notices.
– He didn’t work in Aeroflot – it’s clear. He didn’t work in Aeroflot – in other words he was never linked with any responsibilities, contracts or other actions that could be interpreted as his work with Aeroflot.
– Then why this staunch association?
– Because the power never controlled the ongoing processes and didn’t know who has Aeroflot shares; it always considered that we possess a significant share holding in Aeroflot. And wanted to strike a blow from this side.
– But stroked Glushkov instead, the journalist says.