We discovered that of these publications, only 30 percent are still independent, with the rest either directly or indirectly in the hands of the state. And it appears that Putin’s regime will take over more of the independent players in the print media. (It has already accomplished the takeover of all TV channels.) To achieve this, Putin and his pals will likely use pro-government oligarchs to buy the publications and then install a loyal publisher. In short, we found that with few exceptions, the Russian government has almost full control over the mass media in Russia.

Here are the specifics:

Expert magazine – organized by a group of journalists in 1995. Currently, it is the top-rated publication in Russia. But the magazine’s independence is threatened. Oleg Deripaska (ranked as the world’s 62nd richest person by Forbes magazine) has offered to buy Expert. Deripaska is closely associated with the Kremlin, and has thus far been unsuccessful in his efforts to buy the magazine.

Kommersant newspaper – owned by Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov. He is also a director general of Gazprom-Invest-Holding, an affiliate company of Gazprom. Usmanov bought the Kommersant from Badri Patarkatsishvili for $200 million. Now Gazprom controls this publishing house.

Vedomosti newspaper – owned by Business News Media Holding, whose main shareholders are the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and a Finnish company, Independent Media Sanoma Magazines.

Izvestia newspaper – owned by Gazprom-Media Holding, a subsidiary of Gazprom.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper – in circulation since 1990, it was incorporated by the Russian government. This publishing house is an official media outlet for publishing presidential decrees and new laws. This is the official government newspaper.

Economy and Life newspaper – another official voice for the active power. It reports new enactments in tax laws and accounting principles, and publishes the latest decrees in taxation.

Itogi magazine – published since 1996, it used to be a joint venture between Newsweek and the media group Most, which belonged to Vladimir Gusinsky, a representative of the first oligarch wave. In 2001, Vladimir Gusinsky’s media empire ceased to exist, and with it the National Television Channel (NTV), Segodnya (Today), and Itogi lost their independence.

Finansovaya Gazeta newspaper – a state-owned publishing house, the same as for Economy and Life.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper – originally owned by Boris Berezovsky. In the summer of 2005, Konstantine Remchukov, a member of the state Duma and top-ranking aide to German Gref, minister of economic development, bought 100 percent of the newspaper from Berezovsky. Remchukov left his political post right after the purchase. Now he is a CEO and the newspaper’s publisher. He also used to be top executive in the company Base Element, working for Oleg Deripaska.

Moscow News newspaper – before Yukos collapsed, it was owned by one of Yukos’ main shareholders, Leonid Nevzlin. After the oil company was destroyed by Putin and his accomplices, Nevzlin offered to sell the newspaper to anyone for $1, provided that his successor would keep the paper independent and democratic. The paper is now owned by Mikhail Chernoy, a Russian billionaire who lives in Israel. Chernoy, a staunch rival of Deripaska, the oligarch who wants to buy Expert, has preserved the independence of Moscow News.

Novaya Gazeta newspaper – the newspaper that employed the late Anna Politkovskaya. The two primary owners of this publishing house are Mikhail Gorbachev, ex-president of the U.S.S.R., and Alexander Lebedev, an ex-KGB officer. Lebedev is a critic of the Putin regime and is currently a member of the Duma. The managers of the newspaper also own a stake in the publication.