Mikhail Khodorkovsky to launch new media portal

Former political prisoner and one-time oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky is set to launch a new media portal this autumn, news website Gazeta.ru has reported. Although Khodorkovsky’s press secretary Olga Pispanen has refused to confirm or deny claims, the website has already been dubbed the “the new Lenta.ru” after the formerly independent news outlet.

More than 60 of Lenta.ru’s employees resigned in March after the unexpected dismissal of the publication’s editor-in-chief, Galina Timchenko, who was replaced by Kremlin sympathiser Alexei Goreslavsky. According to Gazeta.ru, Khodorkovsky’s new editorial team will be based in Latvia and will include a number of former Lenta.ru journalists.

Khodorkovsky, who spent ten years in prison after being charged with fraud and tax evasion, is said to be planning to become more involved in opposition politics. Media analyst Alexei Makarkin told Gazeta.ru: “Khodorkovsky has engaged in philanthropy but he clearly wants to head into politics. To do this, he needs a platform, and one that would attract the attention of his target audience — people who vote for the opposition and attend rallies.”

In April, prominent blogger and journalist Anton Nossik announced plans to launch a raft of media outlets after a slew of editorial reshuffles and cuts in funding to independent news organisations seemed to signal growing state censorship.