At the age of 72, Dutch media manager and publisher Derk Sauer passed away, reported the newspaper Het Parool, with which he had been collaborating since 1991.
He never recovered from the consequences of an accident involving his sailboat in Greece a few weeks ago. Sauer's last column appeared in the newspaper on June 27.
In his youth, Sauer was a leftist activist, then became a journalist, working in Dutch newspapers and on television channels. In the late 1980s, he came to the USSR. In 1992, he, along with his business partner Annemarie van Gaal, founded Independent Media. The publishing house released the first English-language newspaper in Russia, Moscow Times, dozens of magazines, including Russian editions of Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar, Esquire, and the business newspaper «Vedomosti». In 2012, Sauer, at the invitation of businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, headed the RBC holding.
After the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Sauer and the Moscow Times editorial team moved to Amsterdam. Also, as Het Parool writes, the publisher assisted in the emigration of journalists from the TV channel «Dozhd»* and the publication «Meduza»*.
In January 2025, Sauer, along with journalist Artemy Troitsky**, created a music label for Russian bands and musicians who can no longer perform in the country for political reasons.
* Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent» and «undesirable» organization.
** Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent».
Photo: Het Parool