London's Evening Standard newspaper will become a free sheet this month after 182 years as a paid-for title, as its new Russian owners seek a new strategy in a tough market, it said Friday. The tabloid, acquired by former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev for a nominal one pound in January, will drop its 50-pence (80 US cent, 55 euro cent) cover price from October 12. Its print run will more than double from 250,000 to 600,000 copies a day, the Standard announced in a statement, adding that it remained committed to providing quality news journalism. 'The Standard has been producing exceptional journalism since 1827 and that is not going to change under my ownership,' Lebedev said. 'The London Evening Standard is the first leading quality newspaper to go free and I am sure others will follow.' A deep recession and dwindling advertising revenues have forced many media companies to change their strategies. Despite a relaunch in May and a new mixed pricing strategy, where the cover price was cut or scrapped altogether after a certain time of night, the Standard clearly felt a more radical solution was required. Editor Geordie Greig described the switchover as a 'historic moment and a great opportunity' for the newspaper, saying it had 'an exciting and secure future with this new, pioneering strategy'. The Standard is the only paid-for newspaper dedicated to the capital. London has one financial free sheet, City A.M., and two others for general news, Metro and London Lite, both owned by Associated Newspapers. Associated previously owned the Standard and retains a marginal stake in the paper, while London Lite still takes some content from its former stablemate. Questions will now be asked whether London Lite can survive. News International, the British newspaper arm of Rupert Murdoch's global media group News Corporation, also joined the free sheet craze but closed thelondonpaper last month after it suffered heavy losses. Murdoch has warned that the past year had been 'the most difficult in recent history' as the group weathered the worst global recession in decades, and analysts have said more newspaper closures are likely. 'Sustaining a paid-for afternoon newspaper had its challenges even before the free sheets were launched in 2006,' Andrew Mullins, managing director of the London Evening Standard, said on Friday. 'There are so many competing distractions to potential readers, particularly with new technologies. Being a quality newspaper with large scale and reach should transform our commercial fortunes.' 