The famous patron and owner of London Evening Standard, I and Independent Yevgenii Lebedev speaks on the reasons why there is no culture of charity in Russia and the combination of the printed press with the innovative technologies.
The son of the Russian businessman and banker Aleksandr Lebedev, Yevgenii, grew up in London where he moved with his father when he was eight. In Great Britain Yevgenii Lebedev is known as a patron, collector, and the owner of three newspapers: London Evening Standard, Independent and the young free of charge edition I. The other day he arrived in Ukraine with Elton John to assess the work of Sir Elton John’s AIDS Foundation in Ukraine. Regardless of his busy schedule Lebedev found the time to give an interview to The Day.
You came to Kyiv with Sir Elton John who gave his second concert in Ukraine to support combating AIDS. Does it mean that you decided to join this struggle? Could you tell about your cooperation with Elton John?
“I have been supporting his AIDS Foundation for 12 years now. I came to Ukraine because of two reasons: firstly, I was interested in seeing the work they [Elton John’s AIDS Foundation. – Ed.] do in Ukraine; secondly, I want to start cooperating with his foundation in Russia. There the problem is maybe even more serious than in Ukraine. The Russian government, unfortunately, does not always realize that this problem exists and does not do enough to fight AIDS in country.”
You had a joint journalistic project with Elton John when he became the editor of one of your newspapers for a day. Could you tell our readers about it?
“Our newspaper Independent invites famous people to be the editor for a day. Elton John was one of the first people we addressed. He thoroughly prepared for this work: he came to the office early in the morning, as editors do, and spent the whole day there until the issue was sent to the printing press. He prepared for this for several months: he consulted his friends who had written articles and interviewed people comprising Bill Clinton, Steven Fry and other famous people. As a result, on December 1, on the World AIDS Day the issue of Independent was completed by Sir Elton John. All the money raised from selling Independent and I was directed to his AIDS Foundation. This year, on December 1 we will also make a special issue concerning the AIDS fight. This is another reason why I came to Kyiv: I will write an article about the work of Elton John’s Foundation and the projects he implements in Ukraine.”
How efficient is the work of these foundations in your opinion?
“I think it is very efficient. Firstly, these funds find vital resources, in particular, the money; secondly their work draws the government’s attention to this problem since when Elton John comes he communicates with sick people and visits the hospitals. Today [the interview was recorded on November 9. – Author] I was shocked. Of course I knew that this problem exists but when you face it and see how homeless people live, under the bridges, in the abandoned buildings, how they sleep, it is shocking. Some of them have HIV. The society treats these people as garbage. That is why this work is vital.”
You are known for your charity. In the post-Soviet space charity is not a common thing. What made you do it?
“I think that it is a question of culture and education. I spent a part of my life in the Great Britain and I was lucky to grow in a cultured family. The combination of breeding and education and just observation of the world motivates me to help the others. Unfortunately, this tradition did not exist in the USSR since it was believed that all the people were equal there. I understand why it is so difficult to teach people to do it, however, when I organize charitable events I can see that the rich Russians are unwilling to subscribe. Though I cannot say that all the people are the same, I wish people helped more since the foundation I deal with is Raisa Gorbacheva Foundation fighting against children’s leukemia in Russia. I hope that the future generations will have another attitude to it.”
Your hobby is collecting paintings and sculptures. What do you prefer: modern or classical art?
“I do not have any strategy or goal when creating my collection. That is why there are works of modern artists that I like as well as classical paintings in my collection. In my opinion, the best concept is to collect the things one likes relying on one’s taste. One more criterion is a feeling that this is the work of art I will look at a couple of years later and will equally like it. I can give you an example of Elton John who, when he was young, earned his first money and bought the paintings he liked. These paintings he bought for little money turned to be the ones by Francis Beckon [an English impressionist of the 20th century. – Author].”
You visit Russia once a month and say that you do not like the way this country went after the USSR had collapsed. Do you think there was another option? Can you see the possibility to change the situation now?
“I think that the options always exist. I would like to emphasize that everything is much better than 20 years ago, before 1991. There are certain liberties: going abroad, for example. There is some progress. I hope that the country will move towards the liberal Western democracy. I cannot predict how realistic it is. They should give more freedom to the media, hold the real presidential and parliamentary elections, resume gubernatorial and senatorial elections and thus improve the image of Russia abroad. I do not like that Russia has an ambiguous reputation: on the one hand, they are trying to make semblance of democracy, and on the other hand, the abovementioned problems unofficially exist.”
Can you see real leaders in the Russian liberal environment?
“Probably, there are not many real leaders in the situation I have just described. Not because they do not exist but because they just cannot exist in this situation. They do not have access to certain ‘tools’ of making their political career. Even those who exist have no chance to promote since for this the television and other media are needed. I cannot single out anyone.”
The printed press is having hard times all over the world now. A lot of editions are being closed down but you have bought three British newspapers over the last years. How do you see the future of the printed press regarding the information technologies development, in particular, the popularity of the social media?
“Probably, the future of the printed press belongs to the innovations and uncommon thinking. Maybe, you have noticed how we approached the editions belonging to the company I head. We introduced innovations that nobody has done over the past 10 years. I am speaking about launching the new edition I last year. It was based on the newspaper Independent. We developed it from scratch up to 180,000 copies a day. Obviously, it is too early to say that the printed press is dying and has no future. However, on the other hand, the influence of the electronic media has to be considered. That is why when launching new printed editions we do not forget about their online versions and applications for iPad. As for me, the future belongs to the innovation in the printed media. This is what we demonstrated when made London Evening Standard free. This edition was dying and yielding a loss. Now it is repaying and next year if there are no new global financial catastrophes it has to start bringing profit. We were the first to make a high-quality free newspaper. Thus we managed to persuade the advertisers to buy advertising space at a higher price, equal to the prices of paid newspapers. So, I believe that the printed press has the future, at least the nearest one. The distant future will belong to the innovative printed press combined with the Internet and other information technologies.”
Over the last decades London has been increasingly attracting the Russian and Ukrainian businesspeople. The book called Londongrad about the life of Russian oligarchs has been recently released. Do you feel a Londoner or a “Londongrad” dweller?
“I feel a Russian, a Muscovite, and a Londoner, but not a ‘Londongrad’ dweller. I have been living in London since I was eight and I like this city very much since it became my native one. This was one of the reasons why we bought London Evening Standard that is an iconic London newspaper. On the other hand, I was born in Moscow, my family lives there and I keep in touch with my city and my country.”
You and your father Aleksandr Lebedev have restored the Chekhov Theater in Yalta. Do you have any other projects concerning Ukraine?
“It was just unacceptable that the theater and the museum in Yalta completely degraded. Then we, the English artists, dramatists and directors spent the whole week in one of the London theaters. The famous artists such as Tom Stoppard and Kevin Spacey agreed to help us. The whole sum of money raised during a week was used for restoration of the museum in Yalta. We also came there with Tom Stoppard, Kevin Spacey, and John Malkovich to see the theater. My plans are to develop this business in the hotel ‘Ukraina’ and the hotel complex in Alushta; however, it is very difficult since the local authorities create various obstacles.”
