‘Vedomosti,’ one of Russia's most respected independent newspapers, is reportedly losing its foreign owners

The former CEO of Kommersant and current owner of The Moscow Times, Demyan Kudryavtsev, plans to buy the remaining shares of the newspaper Vedomosti from its two foreign co-owners, Dow Jones and FT Group, according to a new report in Kommersant, citing four anonymous sources close to the situation.

According to Kommersant's information, Kudryavtsev and Vedomosti's foreign owners haven't yet settled on a price, but both Dow Jones and FT Group have reportedly resolved to jettison their shares in the newspaper. Kudryavtsev currently owns 33.3 percent of Vedomosti and enjoys the right of first refusal, should the newspaper's other shareholders decide to sell.

Kudryavtsev is expected to come to terms with Dow Jones and FT Group sometime in the next 2-3 months, by which time a new law comes into effect prohibiting foreign interests from owning more than 20 percent of a Russian media outlet.

In April earlier this year, Kudryavtsev acquired 33.3 percent of Vedomosti, all of The Moscow Times, and several other journals from the Finnish company Sanoma.

In September 2014, Russia adopted a law limiting foreign ownership of mass media outlets to 20 percent, and prohibiting foreigners from being the founders of mass media outlets. The norms laid out in this law will be introduced on January 1, 2016. Media owners will have until February 1, 2017, to comply with the new requirements.

In November 2015, The Moscow Times discontinued its daily print edition and switched to a weekly model. The paper's chief editor, Nabi Abdullaev, resigned just before the switch, citing "contradictions about the division of administrative powers" with Kudryavtsev.