October 22nd, 2009
No free dailies were handed out at the Maidan Nezalezhnosti subway station entrance in Kiev this morning. Checking websites and journalists confirmed that there are no free dailies in the country anymore.
At the end of 2008 there were still four free dailies available. 15 Minut (KP Media) launched in 2006 and grew to six editions and a circulation of 270,000 at the end of 2008. Obzor (Telegraaf Media Group) launched in 2004 as a three-times-a-week paper and went daily in 2007. Free evening paper Vecherkom (by paid daily Segodnya) started in April 2008 while Puls Kiev launched in October. Joint circulation was around 500,000 according to claims of the publishers (there is no official circulation audit in the Ukraine).
Both 15 minut and Obzor closed in December 2008, and probably also Vecherkom shut down during that time. Some months later Pulsstopped publishing, their last issue is from March 13. The recession but also the heavy competition between the four papers caused problems.
Since some months a two-times-a-week paper, Tochka(point) is the only paper that is free available (left) although paid paper Blik was heavily sampled."
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