Opposition MP Dmitry Gudkov (Photo: Sergey Fadeichev/TASS)

Opposition MP Dmitry Gudkov appealed to the heads of the largest state news agencies - TASS and MIA Rossiya Segodnya - with a request to explain why these media outlets “did not fully” cover the sensational investigation of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) about the offshore companies of famous politicians and others persons involved. RBC has copies of the requests.

In requests addressed to Dmitry Kiselev (MIA Rossiya Segodnya) and Sergei Mikhailov (TASS), the deputy writes that while in other countries some leaders have already announced their resignation in connection with the scandal, state news agencies not only did not sufficiently present the results of the investigation and reaction to them, but also did not cover “the most important part of the investigation for Russia.” This refers to information about offshore schemes used by people from the circle of the Russian president, deputies, senators, governors, etc.

“In such a situation, the practically absent reaction of the leading Russian media, which mention this event either exclusively in relation to foreign politicians or do not mention it at all, seems paradoxical,” writes Gudkov. In his opinion, this violates Article 51 of the Law on Mass Media, which does not allow the use of the rights of journalists to conceal or falsify socially significant information.

Gudkov asks Kiselev and Mikhailov to explain their position “on the reasons for such brief and incomplete information to citizens about a topic that is, without exaggeration, important for the entire country.”

As RBC wrote , Russian state and pro-state media in the first few hours after the publication of the investigation spoke very cautiously on the topic of the “Panama Archives,” especially as it relates to Russian officials and businessmen. The state agency RIA Novosti (part of MIA Rossiya Segodnya), which owns one of the most visited sites on the Runet , as of 14:00 on April 4, made do with several short news about the publication of the archive. TASS spoke in more detail about the investigations based on the archive of the Panamanian company. At the same time, speaking about the Russian persons involved in the investigation, TASS , like RIA, only mentioned that “the publications contain materials about the operations of a number of Russian legal entities and individuals,” which “may relate to individuals from the circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin.” At the same time, the agency spoke in a separate detailed article about the offshore of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko , who transferred the assets of his confectionery corporation Roshen to a Panamanian company.

According to an ICIJ investigation published on Sunday , several high-ranking Russian officials, deputies, governors, security officials or their close relatives own companies in Panama and the British Virgin Islands (BVI). The data is based on leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which provides services for registering offshore companies. In addition, the archives contained information about companies whose beneficiaries are close friends of Vladimir Putin. The president’s press secretary, on the eve of the publication of the materials, said that an “information dump” was being prepared against the president.

The MP asked the media to explain the incomplete coverage of the offshore scandal