Putin handed over to the Moscow authorities a network of printing houses of the Norwegian holding Amedia. The company planned to transfer them to Dmitry Muratov — Meduza

Russian President Vladimir Putin transferred to the temporary management of the Moscow government the network of Prime Print printing houses, which belongs to the Norwegian Amedia holding company. The corresponding decree published on the legal information portal.

In September, shares in five of the six Prime Print printing houses came under the control of the Federal Property Management Agency.

In April 2022, the holding announced that it would leave Russia and transfer full control over its printing houses to the then editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov.

It was reported that Muratov would receive full control over the activities of four printing houses in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk. The fate of two more printing houses, in which the holding did not own 100% of the shares, was planned to be decided jointly with Russian minority shareholders.

“We cannot be held responsible for this wonderful asset any longer. Our plans were different: to sell printing houses at a discount and in installments for five years to the creators of printing houses: managers and work teams, with the condition of maintaining the profile of enterprises and jobs. We have no influence on printing houses (what and to whom to print),” commented transfer of printing houses by a representative of Novaya Gazeta.

The decree, which allows Russian authorities to effectively nationalize the assets of foreign companies in Russia, was signed by Vladimir Putin in April 2023. This decision was explained by the seizure of Russian assets abroad.

In July, the Russian authorities transferred the shares of foreign shareholders of the Baltika brewing company and the Danone concern to the temporary management of the Federal Property Management Agency. The nephew of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, Yakub Zakriev, who heads the Ministry of Agriculture of the republic, became the general director of Danone Russia LLC. Baltika Brewing Company LLC was headed by Taimuraz Bolloev, who headed Baltika from 1991 to 2004.

Listen to the Meduza podcast about asset seizures in Russia