On 18 September 2023, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a decree nationalizing five printing houses belonging to Novaya Gazeta editor Dmitry Muratov. The printing houses in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk and Voronezh belonged to Norwegian company Amedia, which transferred ownership to Muratov after it left the Russian market, following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to Novaya Gazeta, Amedia transferred its ownership of the assets to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muratov in April 2022, as a form of support to independent media in Russia following the start of the full-scale war. Novaya Gazeta then passed control over the assets to the management of the printing houses, explaining that this measure was intended to guarantee jobs and the correct functioning of the companies. “All questions related to their future fate now lie exclusively with Rosimushchestvo [Russia’s state asset management company]”, Novaya Gazeta wrote in a statement.
In early September, Dmitry Muratov was designated as a “foreign agent” in Russia, in a decision which imposed serious legal restrictions on his activities in the country.
UPDATE: On November 22, Putin signed a decree transferring temporary management of the printing houses to the government of the city Moscow, Russian independent media reported.