KIEV, April 20 – The Kyiv Post’s owner on Wednesday agreed to sell the newspaper to editorial staff for $1 if they arrange financing by Sept. 1 to cover the newspaper’s costs, TeleKrytyka reported citing a source.

Mohammad Zahoor, a steel tycoon who owns the English-language newspaper, met the staff on Wednesday to settle a dispute that had led to a strike by 30 journalists that had accused him of censorship.

The strike exploded last week following Zahoor’s decision to fire Brian Bonner, the editor, for allegedly refusing to kill a sensitive interview with the Agriculture Minister.

Following the meeting, the journalists agreed to end the strike, while Zahoor agreed to re-hire Bonner, now as a member of a four-person editorial board.

“I call this a victory for both parties,” Yuriy Onyshkiv, a newspaper reporter, told TeleKrytyka. “The conflict at Kyiv Post has been exhausted.”

The solution stops escalation of the conflict that has already led to political repercussions and debate in Parliament, fueling criticism of President Viktor Yanukovych’s administration for alleged attempts to restrict freedom of speech.

A special Parliamentary committee was supposed to investigate the conflict later this week.

The agreement also stops plans that could have otherwise led to the creation of a rival English-language newspaper. Bonner said he was working on a business plan for such a newspaper.

Zahoor purchased Kyiv Post in 2009 from Jed Sunden, the founder, after the newspaper had experienced a downturn following a global financial crisis in 2008 and the sharp decline in advertising revenue.

Following the acquisition, Zahoor has injected money in the newspaper, hiring more journalists and expanding staff, but the business has remained unprofitable.

The latest trouble began after Kyiv Post had published the interview with Mykola Prysyazhniuk, the agriculture minister, in which he had commented on his alleged connections with Yuriy Ivanyushchenko, a powerful deputy and a long-time ally of Yanukovych.

Ivanyushchenko is thought to have dramatically increased his control over Ukraine’s agriculture sector over the past 12 months.

Prysyazhniuk denied having any connections with Ivanyushchenko, but has admitted that he knows him. (tl/ez)