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Finnish media company Sanoma Oyj (SAA1V) started selling its Russian assets, agreeing to divest a stake in a local publisher as the country restricts foreign ownership of magazines and newspapers.

Sanoma will sell its 50 percent stake in Fashion Press, which publishes Cosmopolitan and Esquire in Russia, the Helsinki-based company said today in a statement. Hearst Shkulev Media, a venture of entrepreneur Viktor Shkulev with U.S. media company Hearst Corp., is buying the stake.

President Vladimir Putin signed a law in October that requires media companies to reduce foreign ownership to 20 percent by 2016. Since becoming president in 2000, Putin has brought major TV stations under state control, pushing opposition discourse toward the Web. This year, as geopolitical tensions flared over the conflict in Ukraine, Putin has tightened control over the Internet and media.

Sanoma said the sale is part of a strategic review it announced in 2013 to redesign its consumer media operations. The company said it will continue to assess strategic options for the remaining assets of its Sanoma Independent Media unit, which oversees its Russian operations.

The companys holdings in the country include publisher of Mens Health and National Geographic and stake in the Vedomosti daily, published jointly with the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ilya Khrennikov in Moscow at ikhrennikov@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net Ville Heiskanen

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Sanoma to Sell Stake in Russia Publisher Amid Media Law Changes