Nevzlin, a major Yukos shareholder wanted by Russian law-enforcement agencies for alleged financial fraud, suspended financing for The Moscow News in March, after editorial infighting here had been brought into the public domain.
The MN Board of Guardians includes prominent journalists, academics, scholars and politicians, such as Yegor Yakovlev, Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Yuri Afanasyev, Alexander Gelman, Yuri Levada, Yuri Ryzhov, Alexander Yakovlev, and Yevgeni Yasin. In an open letter to Nevzlin, the Guardians say they will raise money for the newspaper through a public fund, open to donations from legal entities and private individuals alike, and that they will mediate in the dispute between Editor-in-Chief Yevgeni Kiselev and his sacked deputy editors. They explain that they are being driven by the striving to save the liberal newspaper from bankruptcy and liquidation.
Mr Gelman told RIA in an interview that the Guardians had absolutely no commercial interests in mind and that they were willing to take The Moscow News under their wing exclusively for the newspaper's rescue's sake. They hope that in place of one large proprietor, they will be able to form a pool of "not-so-rich people," who are nonetheless willing to contribute money to the support of what was widely regarded as the nation's flagship newspaper in the perestroika era.
"I cannot say exactly how much money it will take the newspaper to survive, " Gelman told RIA, adding that the needed sum would probably be somewhere within the range of $2.5 to $3 million a year. He said he was hopeful that businesspeople would offer their support.
Lyudmila Telen, recommended by the Council of Guardians as a replacement for Kiselev, believes that the change of proprietor is the only solution for the newspaper to opt for now. "Since Leonid Nevzlin believes the MN will have no buyer, why not just hand this loss-making project over? Especially given that the Board of Guardians has no claims to the MN publishing house, headed by Kiselev," Telen pointed out to RIA.
