Independent Media Welcomes New CEO Maria Komarova

The Independent Media (IM) publishing house has announced the appointment of Maria Komarova as CEO of the group of companies behind IM titles like Cosmopolitan, Domashny Ochag, Harper’s Bazaar, Grazia, Esquire, Popular Mechanics, and Robb Report Russia. She took up her duties on April 24, 2017.

Ms Komarova is a well-known media manager with broad media experience. In her career, she has served in the top management of companies like Kommersant, U-TV Media, and Vyberi Radio.

“We are happy to welcome Maria to her new position and wish her success in implementing the strategy of building a multi-platform media company,” Inventure Partners managing partner Sergei Azatyan said. 

“It is a great honor for me to lead a publishing house with such a rich history, legendary brands, and strong team of professionals,” Ms Komarova said. “The main task that shareholders have put before the company and me is to develop the business in light of the current challenges facing the media industry and print media in particular. The premium IM brands are truly unique assets with a huge potential both online and in print. We are working actively to continue offering our audience interesting, high-quality, and innovative products,” she added.

“We are grateful to Elena Smetanina for her good work as acting CEO. The team she led achieved excellent results in the past year in both the magazine and digital segments,” noted Mr Azatyan. “In the last year alone, the holding’s overall internet audience increased by 80%, and by more than 150% for projects such as Cosmo.ru. Ms Smetanina will continue working with the company as chief operations officer,” he said.

“We have everything we need now to look to the future with confidence and optimism: premium brands, the trust of advertisers, and millions of readers throughout Russia,” Ms Smetanina said. “We are the leading company in the market and know exactly how to reach a targeted audience in an advertising campaign, and to calibrate it with surgical precision to serve the premium segment. We are grateful to the advertisers that choose us and trust us with the most complex projects,” she said.