Nationalized Chelyabinsk TV channel appoints new head

Valery Shagiev, the longtime director of the nationalized Channel 31 in Chelyabinsk, has stepped down and introduced his successor, Yevgenia Morunova.

Feb 23, 2026

Valery Shagiev had been directing the media holding, which includes Channel 31, for an extended period before stepping down.
Source:
reader of 74.RU

The head of the nationalized Channel 31, Valery Shagiev, on Wednesday, January 28, said goodbye to the team and introduced the new head. She is Yevgenia Morunova. Currently, the founder of the media holding, which previously belonged to Mikhail Yurevich, is the government of the Chelyabinsk region.

«From this day, I am no longer managing the Channel 31 holding (which also includes the website 31tv.ru, radio stations DFM-Chelyabinsk and Sputnik-Chelyabinsk. — Ed.»s note). I definitely need to exhale. I haven«t been on vacation, probably for five years, — commented Valery Shagiev to 74.RU. — It will take some time to hand over affairs. My place will be taken by chief editor Yevgenia Morunova, which I am very happy about. The period of turbulence is passed, the team is preserved, we can move forward.»

Valery Shagiev graduated from the philological faculty of Chelyabinsk State University (ChelSU). Immediately after graduating from university in 1996, he went into television journalism. He worked as a correspondent and news anchor for the television company «Vostochny Ekspress». In 2001, he moved to work at ZAO IAC «Panorama» (Closed Joint-Stock Company Information and Analytical Center «Panorama», which included Channel 31 and radio stations) as chief editor, and then director. Under his leadership, the company became a winner in the prestigious TEFI-region television award in the category «Best Report». In 2017, together with employees of the media holding, he founded the charitable foundation «Teplaya Pomoshch» (Warm Aid), which provides assistance to the homeless and people in difficult situations. He was awarded the title «Honored Worker of Mass Media of the Chelyabinsk Region».

Recall that in May 2024, the Central District Court of Chelyabinsk, at the suit of the General Prosecutor«s Office of the Russian Federation, decided to nationalize all business assets of former governor Mikhail Yurevich and his relatives. Among the companies that came under state management was the media holding, which includes Channel 31, the website 31tv.ru, radio stations DFM-Chelyabinsk and Sputnik-Chelyabinsk. Last autumn, these nationalized media became 100-percent owned by the government of the Chelyabinsk region.

All about the Yurevich case and the nationalization of his assets — in the special section of 74.RU.