Russian billionaire, Alexander Lebedev, is to buy London’s Evening Standard newspaper, according to the MediaGuardian online.

Russian billionaire and former KGB agent, Alexander Lebedev, is reportedly buying London’s Evening Standard newspaper tomorrow (Friday 16 January), according to a report in the MediaGuardian.

In May 2008, Lebedev was listed by Forbes magazine as the 358th richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$3.1 billion (about £2.1bn). Amongst other ventures, Lebedev is President of Russia’s largest bank, the National Reserve Bank, and has a stake in Aeroflot, Russia’s state airline.

It will be the first time that a former member of a foreign intelligence service has owned a British title. Lebedev told MediaGuardian.co.uk that he would not get involved in the paper’s editorial line, promising “an absolutely hands-off approach”.

According to MediaGuardian, Lebedev has been in negotiations with the Daily Mail & General Trust to purchase 76% of the Evening Standard, with the Associated Newspapers group retaining 24%.

Apparently Lebedev had read the Evening Standard, along with other newspapers, when he was a spy at the Soviet embassy in London: “I had to read every newspaper. I was there for that. I had to read the FT, the Guardian, Standard and the Daily Mail,” he told MediaGuardian.co.uk.

Click here to read the report in full at MediaGuardian online.