A Russian oligarch and former KGB agent is today expected to strike a deal to buy a controlling stake in the London Evening Standard, according to reports.
Alexander Lebedev is to buy 76 per cent of the newspaper with the Associated Newspapers group retaining 24 per cent, the Guardianreported.
It is understood the deal will be signed with the Daily Mail & General Trust today after a year of secret negotiations with its chairman Lord Rothermere. DMGT were not making any comment last night.
If a deal is made, it will be the first time a Russian oligarch and former member of a foreign intelligence service has owned a British title.
Mr Lebedev told the Guardianhe had read the Evening Standardand other British newspapers when he was a young spy at the Soviet embassy in London in the late 1980s.
He said: "I had to read every newspaper. I was there for that. I had to read the FT,the Guardian, Standard andthe Daily Mail."
He said the Standardwas "a very good newspaper" with some "brilliant journalists" while the Daily Mailwas a "highly influential" paper that closely reflected British public attitudes.
Mr Lebedev said he had no intention of interfering in British politics and promised a hands-off approach. “My influence would be next to zero,” he said.
In May last year Forbesranked Mr Lebedev the world's 358th richest billionaire, with a fortune of 3.1 billion US dollars. His fortune was made mostly through stakes in banking and insurance companies and through Russian airline Aeroflot, in which he has a stake.
He told the Guardian: "As far as I'm concerned this has nothing to do with making money. There are lots of other ways. This is a good way to waste money."
PA