When I got a call in 2009 from Jed Sunden, the founding publisher of the Kyiv Post, offering to sell the paper to me, I knew that we should be interested.
I had known Jed for a long time, since the mid-’90s. We had played ultimate Frisbee together, having started Ukraine’s first team, the Kiev Meltdown, and knew each other socially. Earlier, Jed had helped me to start my own English-language newspaper, the Baku Sun, when I was working in Azerbaijan.
So having newspaper experience, I knew the Kyiv Post would be an attractive acquisition, not for me personally, because the price tag was too high for my modest net worth, but rather for the company for which I work, the ISTIL Group. The owner, of course, is Mohammad Zahoor.
I knew from my own publishing experience that newspapers put you at the center of all that is going on in the city and have the ability to shape the news. It is said that Rupert Murdoch will only live in a city where he owns a newspaper, which may be why he bought the loss-making New York Post when he moved to that city. I can understand his logic. Life is just much fuller when you have a newspaper in your holding group.
So when I pitched the idea to Zahoor, he liked it and we struck a deal with Jed.
In my opinion, the Kyiv Post has been a great fit for ISTIL.
ISTIL’s profile in the international community rose to a totally different level from where it was prior to the acquisition of the Kyiv Post on July 28, 2009.
In Ukraine, being a friend to the international community is extremely important because, if the powers that be ever choose to do a little raiding, the community can offer a certain amount of cover. In addition, by sticking to our guns and reporting the news honestly during the years of President Viktor Yanukovych, I believe we won a great deal of respect with the people of Ukraine, and the new government.
For this commitment to a free press, both Zahoor as publisher and Brian Bonner as chief editor deserve a great deal of credit. ISTIL’s enormous investments in Ukraine were at risk due to the relatively tiny, loss-making Kyiv Post.
Zahoor was under constant pressure from both within the company and outside it to tone down criticism of the government, or close the paper, but he never backed down, and had a policy to not interfere with editorial decisions.
As for Brian and the whole Kyiv Post editorial team, there is no quit in them, and they never faltered in their tenacious approach to investigative journalism, despite being in a very dangerous situation.
I was CEO of the paper for a couple of years while we owned it. At the same time, I was directing other much larger ISTIL projects which took the vast majority of my time. I had to pass on CEO duties when we started our satellite television business, to which I needed to devote my undivided attention.
We did some fun and exciting projects while I was there, including the Best of Kyiv events and the Most Successful Expats edition. One of the people we singled out as successful was the current finance minister, Natalie Jaresko, so we at least got one spot on right!
What has impressed me most about working with Kyiv Post is the dedication of the journalists. The team that Brian put together while I was there was just fantastic, and included legends like Roman Olearchyk, Katya Gorchinskaya, James Marson and Mark Rachkevych, as well as up-and-coming journalists like Anastasia Forina. These people were paid relatively low salaries, yet go about their work with a zeal I have never seen anywhere else. They are true crusaders who care a great deal about Ukraine’s successful development, and put themselves on the line on a daily basis for the sake of their beliefs.
I am extremely proud to still be associated with the Kyiv Post and to have played a small role in its development as it celebrates its 20th year in business throughout 2015. It’s an amazing institution, and I am sure it will continue to lead the way for independent journalism in Ukraine.
Jim Phillipoff served as chief executive officer of the Kyiv Post from 2009-2011 and is currently the media and telecom director for the ISTIL Group.
