Alexander Lebedev has agreed to purchase Evening Standard.

Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev has managed to negotiate the purchase of a controlling stake in the British newspaper Evening Standard. This was written on Thursday, January 15, edition of The Gurdian referring to sources close to the deal.
According to the publication of the transaction between the company, and Lebedev, Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT), owns the Evening Standard, will be announced on Friday, January 16. The agreement to purchase 76 percent stake edition sign Evgeny Lebedev, the son of Russian businessman, who lives in London. The deal is not disclosed.
The Gurdian characterized negotiations between Alexander Lebedev, and a group of DMGT, длившиеся year, as private and dramatic. " A week ago, for example, the newspaper The Financial Times reported that the owners refused to buy Lebedev Evening Standard "without further explanation." The Gurdian argues that the possibility of selling a British newspaper, former KGB agent "(from 1987 to 1991, Lebedev, as Soviet foreign intelligence officer, worked in London) was discussed at the governmental level.
Note that all the British media reported on Thursday about the possible sale of Evening Standard, put emphasis on the fact that the Russian businessman is a retired KGB lieutenant, as previously in the UK, no former employee of a foreign intelligence does not become the owner of the newspaper.
The Gurdian Lebedeva characterizes as "Russia's oligarchs close to the opposition." The publication notes that a businessman, along with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's own "Novaya Gazeta, which is known for its criticism of the Russian authorities. The Gurdian also writes that the Lebedev in the past there were some conflicts with Vladimir Putin, but did not specify what.
Recall that the newspaper "The Moscow correspondent of" belonging to Lebedev, distributed last year, a scandalous rumor about the wedding of Putin and the well-known athlete Alina Kabaevoy. The businessman then called the story "scandalous puncture" and promised to change the editorial policy "Moskora. But later, after a temporary suspension of the release, the newspaper was closed down permanently "for financial reasons."
In a telephone interview with The Gurdian Lebedev said that if he becomes the owner of Evening Standard, his influence on editorial policy would be "close to zero."