American Jed Sunden founded the
Kyiv Post weekly newspaper on 18 October 1995 and later created
KP Media for his holdings. On 8 November 2021, the paper's website published a statement by owner Adnan Kivan announcing the temporary halt in operations of the newspaper claiming "One day, we hope to reopen the newspaper bigger and better." Reporters at the
Kyiv Post replied in a joint statement that the sudden closure came on the heels of Kivan's attempt to "infringe" on their editorial independence. Some of these reporters founded a new English-language publication named
The Kyiv Independent, which is funded by donations and published its first newsletter on 26 November 2021, and its website on December 2. Kivan later stated he intended to make the newspaper more advertisement-friendly. In 2024 Following the passing of Adnan Kivan, ownership of the newspaper passed to his son, Ruslan Kivan, who continues to develop the media project while maintaining its editorial independence and expanding its international presence as Ukraine’s true global voice.
Ownership history The
Kyiv Post has only had three owners in its existence: Jed Sunden, an American;
Mohammad Zahoor, a British businessman of Pakistani origin; and
Adnan Kivan, a native of
Syria. In October 2024, Adnan Kivan died, and his son, Ruslan Kivan, took over as the publisher of Kyiv Post as well as Kadorr Group. Sunden's KP Media sold the newspaper to British citizen Zahoor on July 28, 2009. Zahoor owns the ISTIL Group and is a former steel mill owner in
Donetsk. Zahoor published the newspaper through his Public Media company. In an interview with the
Kyiv Post published on August 6, 2009, Zahoor pledged to revive the newspaper and adhere to its tradition of editorial independence. On 21 March 2018, Odesa-based businessman Adnan Kivan, with
Kyiv Post former Chief Editor Brian Bonner. The newspaper is operated by his Businessgroup LLC. Kivan owns the KADORR Group of companies that specializes in construction and agriculture. His wife, Olga, and three children participate in his business. He used to be active in metals trading in the Black Sea port city from 1991-2007. In October 2024, Adnan Kivan suddenly died leaving the company to his son Ruslan Kivan to take over as CEO of Kyiv Post and Kadorr Group. Sunden created the newspaper in the early years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, starting with $8,000 in capital, three computers and a staff of seven people working from a small flat in
Kyiv. The first 16-page issue was put out by an editorial staff of two people. Sunden built the newspaper into a profitable enterprise, one that served the needs of the expatriate community that then regarded Ukraine as a potential hotspot for investment. During Sunden's tenure, he held to
libertarian and anti-Communist views on the editorial and opinion pages, but established the business model of editorial independence on the news pages. He said the policy is good for business and news. Sunden was controversial for allowing paid "massage" advertisements from women engaging in ‘escort’ services. After Zahoor bought the newspaper, he retained the entire editorial team. One of his first acts as publisher, however, was to eliminate the paid "massage" advertisements, saying he didn't want to own a newspaper that promoted ‘escort’ services. Zahoor sustained the policy of editorial independence, with limited exceptions. After the newspaper's editors endorsed
Yulia Tymoshenko over
Viktor Yanukovych for president in the
2010 Ukrainian presidential election, the publisher issued a policy to forbid editorial endorsements of any political candidate or political party, saying the newspaper should remain non-partisan even on its opinion pages. Zahoor relaxed the policy during the May 25,
2014 presidential election, when he and his wife, singer-actress
Kamaliya, came out publicly in strong support of billionaire Ukrainian businessman
Petro Poroshenko's election as president. While the newspaper was free to endorse any candidate for the election, its editorial board made no endorsement in the contest that Poroshenko easily won. Zahoor's purchase and significant investment improved a newspaper that had been badly affected by the
Great Recession, a sharp downturn that struck the
Kyiv Post particularly hard in October–November 2008. The
Kyiv Post lost advertising and cut costs, but still ended the year in the black, the last profitable year of its existence. In the last months under Sunden in 2009, the newspaper's editorial staff shrunk to 12 members, its page count to 16 and its print distribution to 6,000 copies. Zahoor invested in journalists, increased distribution and improved newsprint. He boosted the page count—to 32 pages through much of 2010–2011, dropping back to 24 pages again through much of 2012-2013 and then to 16 or 24 pages since then. However, despite the investments, the
Kyiv Post never regained consistent profitability, despite further staff and cost cuts, as print advertising continued to shrink, especially in the once all-important sector of employment advertising. However, combined with Zahoor's subsidies, the newspaper has been able to minimize financial losses through special publications, such as the Legal Quarterly, Real Estate and Doing Business supplements, as well as special events, including the annual Tiger Conference and others. The start of an affiliated nongovernmental organization, the Media Development Foundation, also raises money for independent journalism. Kivan's first six months as owner have also seen renewed investment as the
Kyiv Post hired three new foreign correspondents - Iryna Somer in
Brussels, Askold Krushelnycky, a former chief editor of the
Kyiv Post, in Washington, D.C.; and Olena Goncharova in Edmonton, Canada. Somer left her Brussels position at the end of 2018. In 2024, following the passing of Adnan Kivan, ownership of the newspaper passed to his son, Ruslan Kivan, who continues to develop the media project while maintaining its editorial independence and expanding its international presence.
EuroMaidan Revolution and war in the Donbas In 2013, the
Kyiv Post covered what became known as the
Euromaidan, which began on November 21, 2013, triggered by then-President
Viktor Yanukovych's broken promise to sign a political and economic association agreement with the
European Union. The
Kyiv Post published hundreds of stories in print and online about the revolution, which ended in Yanukovych fleeing to Russia on February 21–22, 2014. The first
Kyiv Post story about the revolution was published on November 22, 2013. After Yanukovych and many members of his government took up exile in Russia, the
Kyiv Post covered the formation of an interim Ukrainian government, the Russian annexation of Crimea on February 27, 2014, the start of the
war in the Donbas in April 2014 and the May 25, 2014, election of
Petro Poroshenko as independent Ukraine's fifth president after Yanukovych (2010–2014),
Viktor Yushchenko (2005–2010),
Leonid Kuchma (1994–2005) and
Leonid Kravchuk (1991–1994).
Website, paywall and social media The
Kyiv Post launched its website in 1997 under Sunden. The
Kyiv Post launched an online paywall in March 2013. The erection of the paywall became financially necessary because of the decline in print advertising in the newspaper industry generally, including at the
Kyiv Post. During times of intense national crisis, such as the
Euromaidan Revolution and the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, the
Kyiv Post has relaxed its paywall and made its coverage available freely for a limited amount of time. The website currently provides many categories of stories for free, including its aggregated content, its opinions and editorials and its multimedia offerings, including video, cartoons and photo galleries. In October 2014, the
Kyiv Post started a Reform Watch project to track the progress under President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister
Arseniy Yatsenyuk in eliminating corruption and bureaucratic obstacles to democratic progress and economic growth. In November 2021 the online paywall was removed to allow more democratic access to all readers around the world and to help elevate its viewership at such a critical time in Ukraine’s history. This strategic move by Luc Chenier, CEO of
Kyiv Post would help increase
Kyiv Posts digital revenue by focusing on western audiences where markets such as the United States generally pay more for views on a programmatic platform. In June 2022 the
Ukrainian version of the site was launched. In December 2022,
Kyiv Post launched a completely redesigned website.
Threats to existence The
Kyiv Post withstood numerous threats to its existence from 1995. According to audiotapes released by Mykola Melnychenko, bodyguard to ex-President Leonid Kuchma, then-tax inspector
Mykola Azarov talked about conducting tax audits of the newspaper and other news outlets that criticized the administration. Azarov went on to become prime minister under President Viktor Yanukovych. He has since fled abroad and is now on Ukraine's wanted list on suspicion of massive corruption. The
Kyiv Post faced and overcame three distinct political threats to its survival during the administration of President Viktor Yanukovcyh (February 27, 2010 – February 22, 2014). • The first came when Ukrainian billionaire oligarch
Dmytro Firtash filed a libel lawsuit against the
Kyiv Post in the United Kingdom over a July 2, 2010, story about corruption in the gas trade industry. One December 14, 2010, the
Kyiv Post began blocking all internet traffic from the
United Kingdom (UK) as a protest against
English defamation law and the Firtash libel lawsuit in the United Kingdom. The case was dismissed on February 24, 2011 because the UK court believed Firtash had no major connection with the country and the UK block was dropped later that year. • The second threat came in the form of at least two offers to buy the newspaper from businessmen close to Yanukovych. Zahoor refused both offers, citing his desire to keep the newspaper editorially independent. However, the biggest threat may be economic, not political. Many Central and Eastern European English-language newspapers, including
The Moscow Times,
The Prague Post and
The Sofia Echo, have ceased their print publications in light of falling advertising demand and changing readership patterns online. America media analyst Ken Doctor chronicled the
Kyiv Post challenges in an April 17, 2014, article. The
Kyiv Post also was featured in the September/October 2014 edition of the
Columbia Journalism Review. Under the headline, the "Kyiv Post's unlikely success" author Oliver Bullough writes that: The more you learn about the
Kyiv Post, the more you realize how remarkable it is that it holds its own against these [other media] behemoths. Its newsroom budget is less than $25,000 a month. It has but 19 editorial staff; it has faced repeated attacks from regime-allied oligarchs. The fact its reporting survives at all, let alone flourishes, comes down to the unlikeliest of pairings: a journalist from Minnesota and an Anglo-Pakistani billionaire. Each has his own reasons for loving Ukraine, and the Post brought them together.
Temporary shut down and breakaway The Kyiv Independent On 8 November 2021, the newspaper was temporarily shut down after the editorial staff's disagreement with planned changes to the outlet led to the owner firing all reporters, many of whom then joined the newly-founded
Kyiv Independent. On 11November, Luc Chénier was announced as the new CEO of
Kyiv Post. On December 8, 2021,
Kyiv Post resumed its digital operations and publication following a 1-month pause. ==Content==