Founder of The Moscow Times and Dutch expatriate Derk Sauer will take over as CEO of media group RBC.
Nikolai Molibog, who previously headed the combined company Afisha-Rambler, will be his first deputy, according to an RBC statement.
In 1990, Sauer started the first Western-style Soviet era publication, called Moscow Magazine, and the newspaper Moscow Guardian.
In 1992, he started what was to become Russia's largest media holding company, Sanoma Independent Media, which is the parent company of The Moscow Times and about 50 other publications.
Sauer on Tuesday resigned as the chairman of the supervisory board of Sanoma Independent Media to become president of RBC.
"After almost 25 years of work, it's time to say goodbye to SIM. Now my focus is on new projects. As the creator of Independent Media, I am very proud to see the company's achievements and Sanoma Independent Media's bright future," Sauer said.
Sauer serves on RBC's board of directors as chairman. He represents the interests of the controlling shareholder Onexim group.
He plans to leave the board of directors, but will remain as president of RBC, Vedomosti reported.
"It's been six months since I came to RBC, and now I want to be more involved in the business and work with Molibog on a daily basis to take the company to the next level," Sauer said.
Earlier news reports said Molibog would be appointed as the next CEO of RBC, but the final decision made by the company's shareholders was to appoint him as the second person of the company, a source close to RBC who requested anonymity told Vedomosti.
Molibog left Afisha-Rambler in May shortly after it merged with SUP Fabrik.
The decision on the appointment of Sauer and Molibog must be approved by the board of directors of the company, which is scheduled for next week.
Former CEO of RBC Sergei Lavrukhin will continue to be a member of the board.
Contact the author at bizreporter@imedia.ru
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