Inaugurating the annual conference of the International Press Institute, he publicly lashed out at the big-business owners of Russia's media empires, calling them the "worst censors" and the biggest threat to the freedom of press in the country. "They openly interfere in editorial policy, determine what to write and say or what not," Yeltsin told the conference. This is the first time Yeltsin has so openly criticised the media barons. And his press secretary Sergei Yastrzhembsky further emphasised the Kremlin's concern about the media's role, when he launched a scathing attack on television companies, saying their coverage of the recent miners' strike went "beyond reasonable limits".

Many media ownersreacted strongly to Yeltsin's criticism. Leading media tycoon and CIS executive secretary Boris Berzovsky responded by saying that in Russia the government is still much stronger than big business. Several heads of televisions stations, also joined the war of words with Yeltsin, accusing the Kremlin of persistent attempts to control the television. They went on to say the Russian press faced a tough time, because of the Kremlin's anxiety about parliamentary and presidential elections in 1999 and 2000.

Ksenya Ponomaryova, general director of the Public Russian Television (ORT), told the conference that the relationship between the government and television is "absolutely absurd". Oleg Dorodoyev, general director of Russian independent NTV station, and Eduard Sagalayev, founder of the private TV-6 station, also reacted angrily to Yastrezembsky's statement. He said that by giving their "unabashed backing" to Yeltsin in the last presidential election, independent television set a bad precedent for futureelections. But the situation will be different in 2000. "We all feel that hard times are coming," Sagalayev said.