VLADIMIR GUSINSKY

, who left Russia in July and has not returned, is fighting a rear-guard action to retain some control of NTV television, the crown jewel of his Media-Most holding company. Media-Most and creditor Gazprom, the gas monopoly that is Russia’s largest corporation, have worked out a series of debt-for-equity swaps that could give them and an unidentified foreign investor joint control of NTV, with Gazprom the dominant partner. But the Kremlin, which has an arrest warrant out for Gusinsky and hauled NTV’s general director in for questioning, may find a way to put the kibosh on the deal.

St. Petersburg police sent at least forty agents, some in full camo gear, to raid the offices of the Promyshlenno-Stroitelny Bank. That’s the bank whose chairman,