Vesti-Privolzhye — the main news programme of GTRK Nizhny Novgorod, the Nizhny Novgorod branch of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. It has aired on the Rossiya 1 channel since 2000; its founder and first editor-in-chief was Pichugin Alexander Vladimirovich (listed in the foreign agents registry), who led the programme until March 2003[1].
How it began
The programme was built from scratch: Pichugin left the Volga (television company) television company, where he had served as editor-in-chief of the news broadcasting division, specifically to launch regional news on the RTR channel — known today as Rossiya 1[1].
The format has proved remarkably durable: a quarter of a century later, Vesti-Privolzhye remains the main news broadcast of the VGTRK Nizhny Novgorod branch.
How the broadcast is structured
Editions air three times a day: a morning broadcast at 9:30, a midday broadcast at 11:30, and an evening broadcast at 21:10[2]. Each edition has its own presenter — as of September 2026, Konstantin Krestnikov hosts the morning edition, Olesya Lokovshchuk the midday edition, and Maya Alyonova the evening edition[2].
The content covers news from Nizhny Novgorod, the Region, and the Volga Federal District: from incidents and law-enforcement matters to cultural events and exhibitions. An archive of past editions is available on the broadcaster's website and its video channels[2].
The programme's agenda is the kind typically assigned to a state regional broadcaster: the work of regional agencies, incidents and police activity, exhibitions and anniversaries. In the programme's feed, a report on the detention of a courier who helped fraudsters swindle pensioners in Gorodetsky District (municipal okrug) sits alongside the opening of the folk arts and crafts exhibition "Gold of the Nizhny Novgorod Land"[2].
Where to watch and read
The GTRK Nizhny Novgorod website is vestinn.ru; story texts are also published there, and the site's feed is among the sources used for city chronicles. The programme also has a Telegram channel, "Vesti-Privolzhye +", where news is posted faster than it airs[2].
The website is registered as part of the online publication "State Internet Channel 'Rossiya'" (certificate El No. FS 77-59166, dated 22 August 2014); the founder is VGTRK, and the editor of the Nizhny Novgorod page is Albina Makarova[2]. In addition to news, the website has sections covering television and radio, a programme schedule, and branch projects.
Belinsky Street — in the same building as NNTV and Vremya N News Agency; the company itself remains a branch of VGTRK[2].
Two television operations on one street
In Nizhny Novgorod, state television is organized in two layers, and Vesti-Privolzhye belongs to the federal layer: GTRK Nizhny Novgorod is a branch of VGTRK — that is, part of the all-Russian company[2].
Regional television is a separate holding: NNTV, Volga (television company), Volga-24, and the Vremya N agency. Both broadcasters operate out of 9A Belinsky Street, and many of the same people have passed through both newsrooms: Pichugin Alexander Vladimirovich worked at both, as did Rezontov Alexander Evgenyevich.
Sources
- lib-avt.ru — Centralized Library System of Avtozavodsky District — Alexander Pichugin: on a journalist's career
- GTRK Nizhny Novgorod (Vesti) — Vesti-Privolzhye: programme broadcasts