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Outlet profile

The Moscow Times

Independent Russian-exile / anti-Kremlin

Owned byOperated by a Netherlands-based nonprofit foundation; founded by Dutch publisher Derk Sauer in 1992, later sold to Russian businessman Demyan Kudryavtsev (2015); no single controlling owner today after its 2022 relocation and restructuring as an editorially independent outlet
FundingReader donations and subscriptions, grants from press-freedom and philanthropic organizations, and some advertising; it lost most Russia-based ad and subscription revenue after being labeled a 'foreign agent'
On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

Derk Sauer, a Dutch media entrepreneur, founded The Moscow Times in 1992 as a free English-language daily aimed at Moscow's expanding expatriate community. It built a reputation as a training ground for Western and Russian journalists and became a widely cited English-language source on Russian politics and business. In 2015 Sauer sold the paper to Russian businessman Demyan Kudryavtsev, who also owned the business daily Vedomosti; ownership shifted from foreign to Russian hands, though the newsroom retained editorial independence. After Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, new "fake news" and military-censorship laws made independent reporting from inside Russia untenable, and the paper relocated its editorial staff to Amsterdam, continuing to publish online in English and Russian. In November 2023, Russia's Justice Ministry designated The Moscow Times a "foreign agent,

Sources

  1. The Moscow Times, Noted For Its English Coverage Of Russia, Is Declared 'Foreign Agent'
  2. Russian Businessman Buys The Moscow Times
  3. Derk Sauer, Moscow Times Founder and Dutch Media Entrepreneur, Dies at 72
  4. The Moscow Times (Wikipedia)
  5. Russia labels Moscow Times a 'foreign agent'

Profile compiled 2026-09-25; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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