According to BBC, just over 100 papers are sold per 1,000 inhabitants (about a third of UK’s penetration rate). This is still lower than in most of Europe, but it’s a concrete increase for the short amount of time the press has had to grow.

All of the major Russian nationals are based in Moscow. Outside of Moscow though, local and regional papers are still very popular. Interestingly, some Soviet-period publications are still running.

While the increased number of newspapers is correlated with more diverse opinion and free press, Russian press is still highly concentrated in the hands of the few, who tend to be close to political autorities.

During much of the 1990s, newspaper ownership was dominated by ‘oligarchs’ such as Boris Berezovsky.

More recently, many influential papers have been bought out by government-tied companies such as state-owned Gazprom. This is seen by many as a Kremlin attempt to tighten its grip over the media.

Yet one may rejoice at press’ explosive expansion in just over fifteen years.

National circulation figures are still gross estimates, as only about half of Russia newspapers signed up to the National Circulation Services, responsible for these measurements.

Source: BBC News