Peter Pomerantsev

Peter Pomerantsev is a British TV producer. For many years, he sold British programmes to the Russian TV industry. He now lives in London.

The polyphonic president

Mikheil Saakashvili, ex-president of Georgia, was once hailed as the very archetype of a model post-Soviet leader – smooth-tongued and sharp-suited. But was the fluency with which he promoted himself as a modern messiah merely a case of pouring old Georgian wine into new bottles?

By Peter Pomerantsev

/ 1 Nov 2013

‘Sometimes we dream of Europe’

Ukraine – an ‘unknown’ country that lies at the margins of Europe. A political football kicked back and forth between Russia and the EU. Yet beyond the politics lies a new, and magical literature; one that revels in dirt and despair, and dares to dream....

By Peter Pomerantsev

/ 30 Aug 2013

The stage illusion laid bare

From hunting tigers to faking demonstrations, reality is a rare ingredient in the Kremlin kitchen. After years of controlling the visual narrative, however, there are signs that Russia’s ‘TV tsar’ might just be losing his touch. Peter Pomerantsev reviews ‘Fragile Empire’ by Ben Judah.

By Peter Pomerantsev

/ 8 Jul 2013

Talking point: is culture the new politics in Russia?

How far has culture become a frontline in Russian politics, and how does it compare to earlier periods in the country's history? Introducing a new week-long CEELBAS debate on oDRussia, Artemy Troitsky, Peter Pomerantsev and Oliver Carroll discuss the nature of art, protest and the absurd.

By Oliver Carroll, Peter Pomerantsev and Artemy Troitsky

/ 27 Mar 2013

2012: the year the Kremlin lost control of the script

Throughout the Putin heyday, Russian political discourse was invented, manipulated and owned by a handful of Kremlin spin doctors. Over the last year, that changed. Though they failed to make real policy headway, the opposition did something potentially just as significant: they began to win the w

By Peter Pomerantsev

/ 28 Dec 2012

Russian Reality TV: a diary

As a British producer selling British programmes in a country that loves British TV, Peter Pomerantsev thought success was assured. He hadn't banked on the peculiarities of the Russian TV industry...

By Peter Pomerantsev

/ 27 Jan 2011