Murdoch vs. Russian Government, Round 2

Rupert Murdoch's concerns about doing business in Russia appear to be entirely justified. But did voicing them earn him a reprisal from the Kremlin?

On last month's earnings call, the News Corp. chairman was bracingly frank when asked about his plans to sell News Outdoor Russia, the country's biggest outdoor-advertising firm. "We have great growing business there but just -- this is purely me, I'm sorry -- the more I read about investments in Russia, the less I like the feel of it," he told analysts. "The more successful we'd be, the more vulnerable we'd be to have it stolen from us, so there we sell now."

And not a moment too soon for the Russian authorities, apparently, who dispatched investigators to search NOR's Moscow offices yesterday. The search was reportedly connected to an inquiry into negligence charges against a city official who handles advertising. Whether it was meant to double as a message is something Murdoch must decide for himself. Maybe we'll find out on the next earnings call.

Comments

[Alex Filonov:]

QED

2008 Sep 10 09:37 PM

[notsosmart:]

i keep asking,as i am not smart enough,for someone to figure out how much russia has defaulted on since ww1? as they move back to a dictatorship you might want to think twicw about investing there.i have no hidden agenda.i dont have the courage for there or china.they move the goal posts to easily.but for some easy come easy go is no problem.

2008 Sep 11 11:04 AM