The paper’s suspension and staff dismissal comes after the Post’s owner, construction tycoon Adnan Kivan, came forward with expansion plans to launch a Ukrainian-language newspaper under The Post. Its staff saw “significant risk” in the expansion, which they said was an “attempt to infringe on our editorial independence.”
“We see this as the owner getting rid of inconvenient, fair and honest journalists,” they said.
Kivan also allegedly denied employees’ requests that he either sell the paper or give the Post’s trademark to the newsroom, and has instead announced plans to reorganize the newsroom in a month, with an entirely new team.
“The newspaper will close immediately “for a short time,” Kivan was quoted by The Post as saying, adding that “one day, we hope to reopen the newspaper bigger and better.”
The Kyiv Post has operated independently across Ukraine since 1995, and was bought by Kivan in 2018. At the time, he reportedly said “I highly value the work of Kyiv Post journalists and intend to preserve editorial independence.”
