Kommersant publishing house owner and oligarch Alisher Usmanov has fired the holding’s CEO Andrei Galiev and editor-in-chief of Kommersant Vlast weekly Maksim Kovalsky after they published materials, relating to the State Duma elections.

Gazeta.Ru quotes Alisher Usmanov, who has never interfered in the editorial policies before, as saying that the materials in question “are comparable to hooliganism”. Kommersant published offensive remarks, targeting prime minister Vladimir Putin.

In November 2011 Roman Badanin, the deputy editor-in-chief of Gazeta.Ru, which is also a part of Kommersant holding, resigned after he refused to post a commercial banner of the ruling United Russia party.

Director general of Kommersant publishing house Demiyan Kudryavtsev has also asked for a resignation. The issue will be addressed at the next meeting of shareholders.

Deputy editor-in-chief of Kommersant Vlast Veronika Kutsyllo said that the staff had expected changes in the editorial board, because Usmanov for long had been dissatisfied with the work of the journalists.