Russia's state-owned TV channel is getting a magazine companion

Krasny Kvadrat—the content provider for Russia’s state-owned television channel Pervy Kanal—is now producing a magazine. Krasny Kvadrat belongs to Russian oligarch and gas pipeline businessman Arkady Rotenberg.

The first issue of magazine Kontrolnaya Zakupka, based on a consumer safety television program of the same name, is expected to be released in September, said Aleksey Kisin, the company's head, in an interview with the newspaper Kommersant.

According to Kisin, several tens of millions of rubles will be invested in the project, which is expected to become profitable in less than a year.

By the end of 2016, Krasny Kvadrat is expected to make a decision regarding the production of the magazine Modny Prigovor, based on a fashion television program of the same name.

“We have accumulated a lot of content. The idea is to profit from it a second time round,” said Kisin. The publication will be published fortnightly and sold by subscription at the suggested retail price of 55 rubles (about 90 US cents), as well as in supermarkets and at news stands.