Berezovsky told the press that his political activity could harm and compromise the publishing business. So he made up his mind to sell it to Patarkacishvili. He and Berezovsky had a joint property over Bary Discovered Partners foundation which has some food factories and the Kommersant publishing house (Kommersant business newspaper is one of the most popular in Russia; Vlast (Power), Dengi (Money), Abtopilot and Molotok magazines also belong to the publisher).

Patarkacishvili has been Chairman of the Kommersant Board of Directors for a long time. He promises that all the media will remain independent of political influence and the key task for him is business development and not control over editorial policy.

In fact Berezovsky used his media as an instrument of political influence. Last year he replaced the former chief editor and CEO by the people completely loyal to him. This has affected the editorial policy and it has shifted in the direction of a tough opposition. So nobody expects any changes caused by replacement of the owner.

Source: Expert (in the Russian language)