K.H. Media Limited owned by former first deputy prime minister of Ukraine Valeriy Khoroshkovsky has sold its 100% stake in Inter Media Group Limited for $2.5 billion to Gdf Media Limited company owned by Ukrainian billionaire Dmytro Firtash, the press service of the Inter TV Channel, which is part of the group, reported on Friday.

"Under the current circumstances, I'm unable to ensure the development of the group, and these circumstances were my principal motivation for the sale," Inter quoted Khoroshkovky as saying.

According to the report, Gdf Media Limited will gain control over the media group after it receives approval from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.

Inter Media Group includes the TV channels of Inter, Inter+, NTN, K1, K2, Enter, Enter-Film, Mega, MTV Ukraine, and other production and marketing companies.

Inter TV Channel is the most popular channel (with a share of 14-16% over the recent months.) Its net income in 2011 increased by 30.9%, to UAH 744.77 million, almost returning to the level of the pre-crisis year of 2008. Its net loss last year fell by 29.5%, to UAH 137.63 million.

In the first half of 2012, the TV channel saw a net income of UAH 446.840 million and a net loss of UAH 95.34 million.