ST. PETERSBURG, January 16 (RIA Novosti) - Surgutneftegaz [RTS: SNGS] has purchased a 20% stake in St. Petersburg's Channel 5, the Siberia-based oil producer said Tuesday.
"Surgutneftegaz has acquired 20% of shares in the St. Petersburg Television and Radio Broadcasting Company at an additional share issue by closed subscription," a spokesman for the oil company said.
As a new shareholder, the company does not plan to change the channel's editorial policy, he said.
"It's simply business, a stock market operation. The company does not intend to interfere with the journalists' work," the spokesman said.
The Channel 5 press service said it had no comment on the change in the company's ownership structure.
