In Washington, found the body of the former Russian Minister Lesin

At the age of 58, the former head of the Gazprom-Media holding and former Russian Press Minister Mikhail Lesin died.

According to family members, death was caused by a heart attack.

As Russian media report, citing the American television channel ABC News, Lesin's body was discovered on Thursday in Washington at the DuPont Hotel. The police are conducting an investigation.

Lesin was born on July 11 1958.

Power and business

For a long time, he was considered one of the most influential figures in the Russian media market and in the corridors of power.

Lesin was one of the co-founders of the largest Russian advertising holding Video International; in 1999-2004 he headed the Ministry of Press Affairs, then for another five years he served as a presidential adviser.

The former owner of the NTV channel, Vladimir Gusinsky, who found himself in exile, said that in the summer of 2000, Minister Lesin endorsed the confidential “Protocol No. 6”, according to which the state guaranteed Gusinsky a cessation of criminal prosecution in exchange for the cession of his media assets to Gazprom.

In 2009, Lesin was fired from Dmitry Medvedev’s administration with the wording “at his own request.” However, the Interfax agency, citing an anonymous source in the administration, reported that the reason was “non-compliance with the rules of the civil service and the ethics of behavior of civil servants.” Experts argued that Lesin’s business activities gave rise to the possibility of a conflict of interest.

From October 1, 2013 to January 12, 2015, he worked as General Director of Gazprom Media Holding, which includes television companies NTV, TNT, satellite television company NTV-Plus, radio stations Ekho Moskvy, City-FM, Relax- FM, publishing house "Seven Days".

Conflict with Echo

A year ago, Lesin had a conflict with the Ekho Moskvy radio station: the head of Gazprom Media demanded the dismissal of the radio station’s journalist, Alexander Plyushchev, who on Twitter wondered whether the death of the son of the head of the presidential administration, Sergei Ivanov, was a manifestation of the highest justice.

Plyushchev later deleted the tweet and apologized for it. The editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy, Alexei Venediktov, stood up for the journalist, and Lesin threatened to fire him too.

As a result of the long negotiations between the editorial board and Lesin, it was decided not to dismiss the moderator, but to remove him for several months from the air.

Shortly afterwards, it was announced that Lesin was leaving the post of chairman of the board of the largest media holding in Russia.

In 2014, Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker Lesina suspected of corruption. In a letter to the US Department of Justice, he claimed that Lesin bought a house in Los Angeles for 28 million dollars, and called on the department to ask about the origin of his funds.