–MEDIA (1):

Boris Berezovsky apparently has closed or is about to close a deal to buy “Kommersant,” Russia’s most influential daily newspaper. Berezovsky is the financier and media baron who financed Yeltsin’s 1996 election. He held a number of government positions before losing influence and narrowly escaping arrest during the government of Yevgeny Primakov. With Primakov’s fall, he has returned to the center of power, dominating the small group around Yeltsin commonly called “the Family.” “Kommersant” is–was? — the last major media property not controlled by the government or by one of the country’s financial-political conglomerates.