Keeping TV Business all in the Family?

Citing its own sources, Telekritika reports that Ruslan Demchak, the owner of the Ukrainian Business Group (UBG) has sold the TV channel Business to Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov.

At present sources within UBG are neither confirming nor refuting the information.

At the beginning of March the website Mediabusiness reported that Business had received a new owner. According to them, this was a person close to the son of the President Oleksandr Yanukovych. 

Arbuzov was promoted to his present post from the post, unusual for somebody of his age and relative inexperience, of Head of the National Bank of Ukraine.  He is generally believed to be close both to the President’s son, and to the family as a whole.

From autum 2012  Ruslan Demchak was detained in SIZO or remand prison on suspicion of laundering money obtained through criminal channels. The owner of the Ukrainian Business Group was released at the end of February.

As reported, one of the main TV channels in Ukraine -  Inter -  also changed hands in February this year.  The Inter Media Holding was sold to Serhiy Lyovochkin, Head of President Yanukovych’s Administration and Dmytro Firtash, known for his very close links to the present regime. Firtash’s Group DF became the major share-holder.