Russia’s CTC Media, in which Sweden’s Modern Times Group owns a 38 percent stake, lost almost a quarter of its stock value as Russia adopted a law limiting foreign ownership of Russian media companies to 20 percent stakes.
CTC Media’s stock lost 22.6 percent of its value in just one day on the news of the adoption of the law by the State Duma, Russian parliament’s lower chamber. Later, the law was also adopted by the upper chamber, the Federation Council.
To be enacted, the law now needs to be signed by the president. If enacted, it will come into force as of Jan. 1, 2016.
CTC Media is Russia’s only major media company to be affected by the law, as it is the only local media group in which a foreign investor owns a stake exceeding 20 percent.
Last week, before the law was supposed to pass its second and third reading at the State Duma, both CTC Media and Modern Times Group issued statements saying that they are carefully following the progress of the legislation.
