Axel Springer Moves Into Russian Market

German publishing group Axel Springer AG is on expansion course at home and abroad. In addition to the purchase of a stake in a regional German publisher, Springer will sell a licensed edition of Forbes magazine in Russia starting on Thursday. "Springer is healthy, Springer is aggressive, and Springer is on the right track," said Chief Executive Mathias Döpfner at the company's annual general meeting in Berlin. Forbes is the second most widely read financial magazine in the U.S. behind Business Week. Forbes Russia will have its own editorial staff, Döpfner said, adding that a second Russian publication is likely to follow later this year. The move abroad was prompted by a desire to escape declining revenue from advertising in the domestic market. Döpfner told shareholders he sees no sign of a turnaround in the German print media industry. At the same time, he announced Springer's decision to buy a 14.5 percent stake in publisher Westfalen Blatt-Zeitungsverlag GmbH, one of the most important regional newspaper groups in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.