Kommersant owner Usmanov says he will not revise top managers' dismissal
MOSCOW. Dec 14 (Interfax) - Alisher Usmanov, the principal shareholder of Kommersant Publishing House, is certain that he made the right decision in dismissing a number of the company's top managers and is ready to meet with the journalists who have signed a letter in their defense.
"I believe I have made the right decision, and I do not intend to reverse it," Usmanov told Interfax on Wednesday.
"Emotionally, I can understand the journalists who have spoken in support of the fired top managers. The signatories of the open letter are professionals and well-known names, who have worked for Kommersant Publishing House for years," Usmanov said.
"I would like to explain my position once again: Kommersant-Vlast is a respectable, independent sociopolitical publication, which enjoys authority and influence on public opinion. But, in its last issues, the authors crossed the line and violated elementary ethical standards, which are common in a decent society," he said.
"The matter is not about persecuting journalists on political or other grounds," Usmanov said. "I, as the publication's owner, have never given any pretext for this, and I am not going to seek excuses," he said.
"The Kommersant Publishing House's journalists have expressed and will express their position freely, but this needs to be done in a correct form that does not insult anyone's dignity," he said.
"In addition, to better understand each other, I am going to meet with all the signatories that would like this in the near future," Usmanov said.