Leaves from a simple journalist quickly turned into a real star of domestic TV. Despite his great fame, Vladislav was quite modest in everyday life.
Possible versions and hypotheses
According to the recollections of his girlfriend Albina, for a long time the couple huddled in her workshop, so there is no question of financial motives for the murder. Why was Listyev killed in this case? Among modern versions, personal motives and the theory of the uncleanliness of business partners are especially popular.
"Vladislav Listyev is killed!" Photos and reports from the scene in the newspapers caused a resonance in the post-Soviet society - the target of the criminals was not a private entrepreneur or a deputy, but a journalist. It was then that versions of political overtones in a difficult matter fell down. Potential leaders and perpetrators of contract killings were looked for both at the top of power structures and among influential businessmen.
Start of events
The difficult situation in Ostankino in 1993 led to the need for change.
The constant lack of state capital greatly hindered the development of the TV channel. In 1994, out of the required 1.3 trillion, the company was able to beg 320billion.
To solve the problem, the editors were given the opportunity to earn money on their own, but this did not bring relief at all - even hardened journalists of that time categorically did not know how to work in the advertising field, including Listyev Vladislav Nikolaevich. Who killed him, how and why, is unknown to this day, but many colleagues associate the event with the big money that was circulating in Ostankino.
Drama in Ostankino
Special commissioned advertising materials spread on TV - commercial organizations and some political parties willingly and paid a lot for such stories.
Usually, such an "advertising sketch" cost the client several thousand dollars, in the range of 5-20. The low quality of the programs became a headache for journalists and caused constant dissatisfaction with the channel's management.
Who benefits?
Data on the initiator of the offer to corporatize Ostankino are somewhat contradictory.
According to the main version, Irena Lesnevskaya, the founder of the REN TV production center, is responsible for this; the second version calls the name of Alexander Lyubimov.
Lyubimov's plan provided excellent prerequisites for the formation of a nationwide TV, which Lyubimov saw as a joint stock community. Actually, this theory existed because of an interview with Boris Berezovsky given in the summer of 1994. In a television interview with the Vlast newspaperin April 2005, he said that the news agency was conceived as "the most powerful mechanism for socio-political struggle", "an independent television channel for the whole country." Why Listyev was killed, for money or for politics, after frank interviews with the magnate, it was impossible to understand more.
Berezovsky's role
This mechanism, according to Berezovsky's speeches, was needed for the purpose of a future war with the communists, who, after the failure in the Duma in 1993, would definitely want retribution and revenge in the media space. In November 1994, Yeltsin signed the Order on the formation of the "Public Domestic Television". In the ranks of the shareholders of the company were Berezovsky's LogoVAZ and United Bank, Khodorkovsky's MENATEP correspondent bank, Smolensky's Stolichny correspondent bank, Fridman and Aven's Alfa-Bank, Efanov's Mikrodin enterprise. The notes “Vladislav Listyev was killed!”, close-up photos and versions of the investigation have since and forever acquired an unpleasant aftertaste of big politics and big money.
Listyev's plans
51% of the shares of the new Ostankino were owned by the state, and 49% were listed in the assets of personal funds. Vlad Listyev since September 1994 was appointed vice-president of the Academy of National TV. Colleagues and friends of the journalist mentioned that he literally dreamed of a different television. He was curious to imagine a different way of development of his offspring, and not to observe the complete degradation of the ethers.
Although his range of interests only extended to the production and production of new projects,to the question “Why was Listyev killed?” there is a standard answer - for money, a lot of money.
Undoubtedly, he was interested in working as a film producer, but such an attitude to the position imposed responsibility for the affairs of the channel on other employees. Vlad did not delve into debits-credits and similar accounting details, his talent was elsewhere.
Memories of colleagues
Journalist Razbash recalled: “A few days after the terrible event with Listyev, our number was called. After a short pause, a cold, completely emotionless voice said something along the lines of: “If you start to twitch, you will go after him…”. Most colleagues received phone calls asking them not to cover the incident in any way in the press and not to stir up a public scandal. Why Vlad Listyev was killed - we do not know and did not know, but we began to dig in all possible directions precisely after a series of calls from unknown numbers.
During the investigation period, about 2 thousand eyewitnesses, witnesses and possible participants in the events were interrogated. 10 different people confessed to the offense, but these versions were not subsequently confirmed in any way. To the question “Why was Listyev killed?” most of them did not even have a clear answer, and motives and opportunities even more so.
FSB version
Hypotheses were repeatedly expressed that Boris Berezovsky and his henchmen were the real customer, then a "Solntsevo trace" was formed, leading to the criminal group of the same name.
The well-known fact is information about the systematicejection from the media space by Listyev of the company Global Media Systems, whose interests were defended by the "man of Solntsevo" Kartsev. The “family” hypothesis was also worked out.
FSB Lieutenant Colonel Litvinenko indirectly accused Korzhakov in his book of planning and directing the murder of a journalist.
On April 21, 2009, according to the current investigation procedure, the process was temporarily suspended "due to the impossibility of identifying the person responsible for the crime." However, the search was soon resumed, as information appeared about the participation in the case of a member of the Tambov group, Yuri Kolchin, who is serving a sentence for the murder of Galina Starovoitova.
The harbinger of a new era of TV was precisely he - Listyev Vladislav Nikolaevich. Who killed the journalist and why he left the body - will remain a mystery for the coming decades. Contrary to existing hypotheses, the aforementioned Kolchin threw a completely new and somewhat unexpected version, and also brought investigations to major crime bosses. However, according to the perpetrator, Berezovsky still ordered the murder. After the case was done, the oligarch paid the Tambovites to remain silent for a long time. Yuri Skuratov, who served as the Prosecutor General during the scandalous case, wrote a book that tells in detail about the people, versions and motives of the crime.
The novel "Who killed Vlad?" did not answer these questions. Who killed Listyev remained unknown. Although the main chapters repeated the investigative materials,individual personalities of the work were called by other names. The story lines were also slightly different from what actually took place. Despite the skepticism of the general public and the cries of paid articles, Skuratov mentioned that there were no people named Kolchin among the real killers of Listyev. Why Listyev was killed and how the authorities are connected with this is a mystery.
Interview with investigator
After the publication of the novel, controversy unfolded around the events in the book and in reality, supporters and opponents of the author argued different versions and called more and more new names.
Who killed Listyev is a question without a clear answer even today, since people interested in the death of a journalist are quite alive and well. Several details of the case were clarified by numerous interviews given by Piotr Triboi, the investigator:
- Why was Listyev killed? Who did this?
- The situation is transparent.
- Where are the charges and the trial for the criminals? Did someone dare to interfere with the investigation?
- Not really. There were threats when I found interesting facts in the process; no one interfered openly. Justice is a matter of evidence. If the lawyers dispute the prosecutor's version, the main defendants will run away, and we will never see them. Since they are all we althy people, a fair trial in other states should not be expected.
- Why was Vladislav Listyev killed? Is the political establishment involved?
- Some are still in power, some are long gone. There are many motives, it is impossible to identify one specific one, becausejournalistic activity forced Listyev to take part in various spheres of the political, financial and public life of the state.
To the question: “In what year was Listyev killed?” the current younger generation is not able to answer, and for his contemporaries the journalist was a real harbinger of the new TV, the main propagandist and pioneer of high broadcasting standards.
After the death of its ideologue, ORT became an ordinary politically biased channel, participating in various PR campaigns of various figures. The political activities of the media giant have since been criticized more than once, but the project has no more new inspirers.
