Moscow, 17 January 2003 (RFE/RL) -- The American head of Russia's NTV television company was fired today at a meeting of the executive board of Gazprom-Media, the television station's owner. Boris Jordan was dismissed after board members voted unanimously to sack him. His replacement, Aleksandr Dybal, said Jordan's dismissal was the result of differences of opinion over the development strategy of the company.
Russian opposition politicians and journalists, however, are claiming that Jordan was fired because of NTV's coverage of the crisis in Moscow last October when Chechen separatists held a theater crowd hostage and demanded an end to the war in Chechnya.
Jordan became the general director of Gazprom-Media after former NTV owner Vladimir Gusinskii defaulted on loans he obtained from Gazprom and Gazprom took control of the television station.
Russian opposition politicians and journalists, however, are claiming that Jordan was fired because of NTV's coverage of the crisis in Moscow last October when Chechen separatists held a theater crowd hostage and demanded an end to the war in Chechnya.
Jordan became the general director of Gazprom-Media after former NTV owner Vladimir Gusinskii defaulted on loans he obtained from Gazprom and Gazprom took control of the television station.