Dutch journalist and entrepreneur Derk Sauer, who built a publishing empire in post-Soviet Russia that included The Moscow Times and Vedomosti, died at 72, Het Parool reported on Thursday. He sustained severe injuries in a sailing accident in Greece a month ago and underwent treatment in Athens and Amsterdam hospitals.
Sauer’s death marks the end of an era for Western media ventures in Russia. He founded Independent Media in 1992 with Dutch investors, launching The Moscow Times and introducing international magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Esquire to Russian readers. His 1999 partnership with The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times led to the creation of Vedomosti, which became Russia’s premier business daily. After leaving Independent Media in 2008, Sauer led the RBC media holding group from 2012 to 2015 and later served as vice president of RBC’s parent company, Onexim Group.
After Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine, Sauer left Russia and returned to the Netherlands. He relocated The Moscow Times editorial operations from Moscow to Amsterdam. One of Sauer’s final projects was launching the music label TMT Music with critic Artemiy Troitsky. The label represents artists from Russia and Belarus who were forced to leave their homelands due to government repression and censorship.
Sauer was also instrumental in helping the independent broadcaster TV Rain (Dozhd) and journalists from Meduza relocate to Amsterdam, facilitating the establishment of a Dutch hub for independent Russian media in exile, The Moscow Times reported on Thursday.
Photo submitted by a Meduza reader