Stars set to boycott Russian radio station

Russian pop stars are set to boycott Russkoe Radio (Russian Radio) in protest against the government’s decision to create a media holding company to promote Russian singers with pro-Kremlin views.

According to music producer Iosif Prigozhin, the artists are preparing to take their songs off the air and withdraw from the Zolotoy Gramafon (Golden Gramophone) contest. They plan to found their own radio station, with Filipp Kirkorov, Alla Pugachova, Valeriya, and Kristina Orbakayte, among others, heading up the board.

Mr Prigozin stated their opposition to the arrival of Vladimir Kiselyov, who proposed the creation of a patriotic media holding and has been leading negotiations for the sale of shares in Russian Media Group, which runs the country’s largest FM radio station Russkoe Radio, to state-run concert organiser Goskontsert.

“He’s crazy and should be seen by a psychiatrist,” exclaimed Mr Prigozhin, “He’s like Yatsenyuk and all the rest. Maybe he could be sent to Ukraine to work with them?”

The artists made their decision after Sergey Arkhipov left his post as general director of Russian Media Group, citing the interference of Mr Kiselyov and Goskontsert in programming as the reason for his departure.

According to Mr Arkhipov, the head of Goskontsert, Sergey Bunin, had expressed “the strong wish of the new shareholders to get rid of old music from the airwaves and, above all, […] songs by Iosif Prigozhin’s artists”.

On 10 August, the Federal Antimonopoly Service approved Goskontsert’s acquisition of all shares in Russian Media Group, within which it plans to create a patriotic media holding company.