MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Changes in the board of directors at the Ekho Moskvy radio station have been developing for quite a long time, with candidacies already approved by both sides, an informed source said in Moscow. "The situation is not new and is most likely due to the fact that independent directors Yevgeny Yasin and Alexander Makovsky were removed from the board at the demand of Gazprom-Media, and the radio station's editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov decided to quit the board as a sign of dissent," the source told Interfax on Tuesday.
The relevant candidacies to replace the directors have already been put forward and approved by both sides, he said.
"In particular, as far I know, Gazprom-Media proposed Svyazinvest General Director Vadim Semyonov, who is said to have been in the same year of study as President Dmitry Medvedev. Ekho HAS put forward former Lenizdat director and currently independent businessman Yevgeny Trubin, who, as a matter of fact, graduated from the same university, only a year earlier than the president did," the source said.
"This situation is unlikely to be directly related to the criticism of the authorities by guests and experts who speak on Ekho, but nothing can be ruled out at the moment," the source said.
Interfax has so far been unable to get a formal confirmation of this information.
Echo Moskvy editor-in-chief Venediktov told Interfax earlier on Tuesday that he and his first deputy Vladimir Varfolomeyev are quitting the board.
"Instead of us, I put Fedutinov [the radio station's General Director Yury Fedutinov) on the list," Venediktov wrote on Twitter.
MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Changes in the board of directors at the Ekho Moskvy radio station have been developing for quite a long time, with candidacies already approved by both sides, an informed source said in Moscow.
"The situation is not new and is most likely due to the fact that independent directors Yevgeny Yasin and Alexander Makovsky were removed from the board at the demand of Gazprom-Media, and the radio station's editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov decided to quit the board as a sign of dissent," the source told Interfax on Tuesday.
The relevant candidacies to replace the directors have already been put forward and approved by both sides, he said.
"In particular, as far I know, Gazprom-Media proposed Svyazinvest General Director Vadim Semyonov, who is said to have been in the same year of study as President Dmitry Medvedev. Ekho HAS put forward former Lenizdat director and currently independent businessman Yevgeny Trubin, who, as a matter of fact, graduated from the same university, only a year earlier than the president did," the source said.
"This situation is unlikely to be directly related to the criticism of the authorities by guests and experts who speak on Ekho, but nothing can be ruled out at the moment," the source said.
Interfax has so far been unable to get a formal confirmation of this information.
Echo Moskvy editor-in-chief Venediktov told Interfax earlier on Tuesday that he and his first deputy Vladimir Varfolomeyev are quitting the board.
"Instead of us, I put Fedutinov [the radio station's General Director Yury Fedutinov) on the list," Venediktov wrote on Twitter.