MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th June, 2020) An online Russian-language edition of UK newspaper The Independent will be launched by the end of June and will pursue a "cultural mission," being free to all, Editor-in-Chief Artyom Artyomov has told Sputnik, noting that Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev is the only owner of the project.
"We are planning to launch [the Russian-language edition] in the next two weeks, before the end of June. We had a technical hitch related to the quarantine both in the UK and here ... Now all legal issues have been resolved ... The website itself has been functioning since February, but in a test closed mode," Artyomov said.
Currently, the website publishes some 100-150 articles a day around the clock. After the official launch, access to the website will be free of charge.
"We reproduce the content that is available [in the English edition] with high-quality translation for the Russian-speaking audience. In general, the outlet is both a media investment business project and a certain cultural mission, as we want to bring the content of high-quality UK journalism to the Russian-speaking audience not only in Russia, but also around the world," Artyomov said.
Last year, the editor-in-chief recalled, The Independent launched editions in Arabic, Turkish, urdu and Farsi.
"The revenue will come from advertising. We have a contract with Google ... This is a Russian outlet and was registered in Roskomnadzor [national media watchdog], and its founder is a company that is 100 percent owned by Alexander Lebedev, a Russian national. There is no foreign participation from the point of view of our legislation," Artyomov added.
The Independent was founded in 1986. In 2010, Lebedev bought the newspaper, which is ideologically close to the Liberal Democratic Party.
