On Sakhalin, the staff of a local newspaper resigned after pressure on the editorial office from the authorities

In Uglegorsk, Sakhalin Oblast, the entire staff of the local media outlet Uglegorskie Novosti resigned after a change of leadership and pressure from the administration. Statement on behalf of 18 employees of the newspaper and TV channel “Uglegorskie Novosti” published on the website of the publication.

According to the editorial office, after the dismissal of the head of the publishing house Zinaida Makarova, Kirill Kobyakov was appointed to the post, whom the team considers to be a representative of the Eastern Mining Company (VGK). It was after the article about the VGK that the editorial office and the printing house of the edition were cut off, and the mayor came to the journalists themselves and ordered not to publish the newspaper anymore.

“We oppose the transformation of the regional newspaper and television into the news agency of the Eastern Mining Company. We cannot work in such conditions and do not understand how such a situation could arise and continues to exist in a state governed by the rule of law. What is happening in the editorial office defies any logic, contradicts common sense and the requirements of the law, ”the editorial office said in a statement.

By information Radio Liberty, the founder promised to reinstate Makarov in office on August 21. Only after such a development of events, the staff of the publication is ready to return and work with the former composition.

In July, the head of the Uglegorsk region, Sergei Doroshchuk, disrupted the publication of the issue of Uglegorsk News after the publication published an article about the Eastern Mining Company, which, according to the author of the material, has a negative impact on the environment. The mayor came to the editorial office of the newspaper and banned the further publication of the newspaper. The editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Zinaida Makarova, was fired.

As she said, on the morning of July 14, two deputy general directors of the Eastern Mining Company (VGK) Andrei Motovilov and Alexander Bosoy came to the editorial office of Uglegorskie Novosti to talk to her.

“Apparently, they wanted to agree on something. After that, by 16:00, Mayor Sergei Doroshchuk summoned me to the administration and handed me a dismissal order. At this time, about ten people broke into Uglegorskie Novosti. Our team continued to publish the newspaper. The light was turned off in the editorial office (according to the electricians, the wires were cut), the printing house was also turned off. Then the mayor Doroshchuk came to the editorial office, who ordered not to publish the newspaper and to leave the premises for the team, ”Makarova said.

In her opinion, the heads of the Supreme State Committee, knowing that the journalists intend to continue to write materials about the company’s activities, gave a command to the mayor to interfere with the work of the editorial office.

Then the editorial office also published a video on its Telegram channel, in which the mayor demands from the journalists to leave the premises in which they allegedly “are illegally”.

The founder and co-owner of Vostochnaya Mining Company LLC is businessman Oleg Misevra. Local media calls him “the coal baron.” Oleg Misevra is also a member of the coordinating council of the Delovaya Rossiya public organization, a member of the Public Council under the Ministry of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East, a member of the Council for Investment Activities under the Government of the Sakhalin Region.