Investigators cite leaked Cypriot legal documents from six Cypriot companies involved in company registration and consulting.
German journalist, documentary director and writer Hubert Seipel, who made a film about Putin and wrote two books about him that became bestsellers, received hundreds of thousands of euros from offshore companies associated with Putin's oligarch Alexei Mordashev.
This is stated in the international investigative project Cyprus Confidential (“Secrets of Cyprus”), writes the Russian publication “Important Stories”.
“Achievements” of Seipel
Hubert Seipel wrote two books about the head of the Kremlin: “Putin. The Logic of Power” (2015) and “Putin’s Power. Why Europe Needs Russia” (2021). They were published in several languages and in ten thousand copies.
Seipel's documentary “I, Putin. Portrait” (2012) was nominated for a German Television Award for best reportage.
What connected the writer with the Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashev
According to documents cited by investigators, in 2018 Seipel signed a “sponsorship agreement” that was supposed to bring him at least 600 thousand euros. According to the document, this amount was allocated for the creation and popularization of a book about the “political climate in Russia.” This book was “Putin's Power. Why Europe Needs Russia?”, published in 2021 by the venerable Hamburg publishing house Hoffmann und Campe.
Also in the documents prepared for signing there is a handwritten note “similar to the agreement concluded in 2013: biography of Putin.”
“Obviously, for the preparation of Seipel’s previous book “Putin. Logic of Power” a separate agreement was concluded for a separate amount. Readers could not find out about sponsorship agreements and Seipel’s possible conflict of interests – not a word was said about them in the books. The publisher of both bestsellers did not know about them, “says the response from Hoffmann und Campe at the request of the publication.
The sponsor was hiding behind a shell company, De Vere Worldwide Corporation, from the British Virgin Islands – this company is registered to Igor Voskresensky, one of the directors of Power Machines, an engineering giant owned by Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov.
What is known about Putin's oligarch Mordashov
Alexey Mordashov constantly occupies one of the levels of the list of billionaires by Forbes magazine.
Before the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine, in 2021, Mordashov topped the ranking with a fortune of almost $30 billion. In 2023, he finished fifth.
The oligarch is also known for sponsoring the construction of Putin’s palace near Gelendzhik. Mordashov's structures also owned large stakes in Rossiya Bank (also known as the Bank of Putin's Friends) and the National Media Group (NMG), which controls a significant part of Russian television broadcasting and the media market in general.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Mordashov came under Western sanctions.
Investigators add: Seipel admitted that the books about Putin were sponsored by a Russian billionaire, but he does not believe that this in any way discredits his work.
Meanwhile, in September 2023, the results of another investigation were made public, which revealed that representatives of the Russian elite owned a huge amount of their real estate in London. At the same time, not all Russian oligarchs are subject to British sanctions and not all of their assets are frozen.
Related topics:
More news
