‘Forbes Russia’ is reportedly pressuring its reporters who testified in a lawsuit against the newsroom's new editorial policies

Sources tell the newspaper Vedomosti that the management at Forbes Russia has been putting pressure on staff members appearing as witnesses in a lawsuit brought by journalist Elena Zubova, a former reporter at Forbes who says changes to the outlet’s editorial policy by publisher Alexander Fedotov and chief editor Nikolai Uskov forced her to resign.

After reporter Maria Abakumova appeared as a witness in court, Zubova says Forbes Russia suddenly forced her to go on an unscheduled vacation. Two other sources told Vedomosti that they suspect the publication’s management has similarly pressured other staff members appearing as witnesses in Zubova’s lawsuit, which a Moscow court rejected on July 10.

“After 2014, with the law limiting the role of foreign capital in mass media, there was another purge that also affected Forbes’ Russian publication,” Zubova told Meduza. In November 2016, journalists at Forbes Russia wrote an open letter to Alexander Fedotov asking why the publication declined to reveal the salary of VTB Bank Chairman Andrey Kostin in its annual report on the highest paid top managers in Russia, when Kostin ranked third.