Music (publishing house)

Main article: Music industry

2025

Founder Mark Zilberkvit resigned as CEO of the company

In the head transferred to the ownership of the Russian Federation at the suit of the Prosecutor General's Office, the largest music publishing house in the Russian Federation, Muzyka Publishing House, changed its head - the creator of the company, Mark Zilberkvit, left the post of general director. He headed the Publishing House of Music JSC, created on the basis of the OJSC of the same name, since its transformation into the Federal State Unitary Enterprise in August 2004. The claims of the supervisory authority against Zilberkvit relate to his participation in the Gamma-Press LLC and P. Jurgenson Music Publishing Company established by him, since as the head of a state institution he cannot do business. Read more here

Nationalization

In mid-September 2025, the Perovsky Court of Moscow, at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, transferred to the state the Muzyka publishing house, which is the successor and heir to P. Jurgenson, which was nationalized in 1918. Shares and property of the publishing house owned by US citizen Mark Zilberkvit are transferred to the ownership of the Russian Federation.

According to TASS, Zilberkvit, who headed Music in 2004, in accordance with the charter, received the right to act on behalf of a legal entity without a power of attorney. The Prosecutor General's Office believes that he took advantage of this to violate the anti-corruption legislation of the Russian Federation. In particular, Silberkvit, guided by "personal selfish motives," initiated the process of privatization of the publishing house.

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Фото: Freepik

It is alleged that in order to convert the property to its own property, Zilberkvit in 2003 established Gamma-Press LLC, and in 2004 - P. Jurgenson Music Publishing Company LLC, which at the time of creation did not have any assets. In 2012, as the prosecutor's office established, Zilberkvit organized a fictitious auction to sell 100% of the publishing house's shares and ensured the illegal participation and victory of Gamma-Press Publishing House LLC. Zilberkvit, according to the case file, digitized printed copies, issued copyrights, limited their free use in Russia and banned free access to them.

The defendants in the claim, in addition to Zilberkvit, were his wife Elena, Gamma-Press Publishing House LLC, the daughter of Zilberkvit's business partner, Boris Jurgenson, Anastasia and VTB Registrar JSC. The Prosecutor General's Office, among other things, demanded that ordinary registered shares of Muzyka Publishing House in the amount of 10,849 registered with Gamma-Press Publishing House LLC be transferred to the income of the Russian Federation. The court satisfied the claims in full.^[1]

Asset seizure

The Perovsky District Court, at the suit of the Prosecutor General's Office, arrested all movable and immovable property of the largest music publishing house in Russia, Muzyka, its head, Muzyka Publishing House and Gamma-Press Publishing House. Information in September 2025 follows from a ruling published on the court's website. The court seized 100% of the share in the authorized capital, forbade the management to pay dividends and withdraw money, but allowed paying off creditors, counterparties, and pay salaries to employees^[2]

The Prosecutor General's Office demands to return control over the Muzyka publishing house to the state

In August 2025, a lawsuit was sent to the Perovsky Court of Moscow by the Deputy Prosecutor General demanding to recover the largest music publishing house in Russia, Muzyka, as state revenue.

Sources familiar with the content of the lawsuit told RBC that the Prosecutor General's Office revealed corruption violations in the actions of the leaders of one of the oldest publishing houses - FSUE Muzyka Publishing House.

According to RBC interlocutors, the check was carried out on the personal instructions of the Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov. The Prosecutor General's Office revealed that the director of the state publishing house "Music" Mark Zilberkvit, who is a US citizen, initiated the process of corporatization and subsequent privatization of the publishing house "in order to turn property into his own property." To do this, in 2003 he established Gamma-Press LLC, and in 2004 P. Jurgenson Music Publishing Company, which at the time of creation did not have any assets. At the same time, the legislation prohibited replacing the position of director of a state enterprise and at the same time being the founder of a legal entity.

According to RBC interlocutors, the prosecutor's office found that in 2012 Zilberkvit organized a fictitious auction to sell 100% of the publishing house's shares and ensured the illegal participation and victory of Gamma-Press Publishing House LLC in the auction. The transaction cost then amounted to 8.4 million rubles.

"At the same time, the transfer of the music library to private ownership was directly prohibited by the Federal Property Management Agency. However, Zilberkvit MA, having abused his position, determined the book value of the unique fund to be zero and appropriated it. Then he digitized printed copies, issued copyrights, limited their free use in the country and banned free access to them. Having seized the collection of music publications formed over more than 100 years of the publishing house, he dependent educational institutions of the musical profile and performers of classical works. The state is forced to conclude contracts with him for the printing of musical literature, that is, to pay for admission to the objects of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the prices set by him force ordinary consumers and budgetary organizations to refuse such services and look for the sources necessary for training on the "gray" sites on the Internet, "the source of RBC lists the arguments of the Prosecutor General's Office.

The Prosecutor General's Office asks the court to recover the shares of the Muzyka publishing house, as well as Gamma-Press LLC (owned by Zilberkvit and his wife Elena) and P. Jurgenson Music Publishing House LLC (owned by Zilberkvit and the daughter of his business partner Boris Jurgenson Anastasia).