MOSCOW, March 14 (RIA Novosti) – Russian publishing house Kommersant has decided to stop producing the Ukrainian edition of its newspaper for economic reasons, the company’s director said Thursday.
The Kommersant-Ukraine newspaper had long suffered from financial losses, director Pavel Filenkov said, and its bureau in Kiev had become redundant.
Filenkov said the paper’s employees would receive severance packages, and the Kommersant publishing house would work to maintain a presence in Ukraine, though in what capacity has not been decided.
The shutdown comes amid a souring of relations between the two countries, with the majority Russian ethnic Crimea region voting this weekend on secession from Ukraine and annexation by Russia after months of anti-government protests across the country toppled former President Viktor Yanukovych last month.
