Interfax avoided trial with the Zvezda shipyard. Its shareholder is Rosneft

Rosneft and Interfax have agreed to out-of-court settlement of a dispute related to the publication of the theft at the Zvezda shipyard. The oil company is its shareholder. The suit for the protection of business reputation, filed by Zvezda with the Moscow Arbitration Court, will be withdrawn, according to an official statement on the Rosneft website.

The reason for the lawsuit was an article by Interfax about the theft of more than 7.5 billion rubles during the construction of the shipyard. Rosneft stated that the facts of theft were revealed under other owners, more than four years ago, and the publication "creates a false impression of alleged ongoing large-scale violations."

From the very beginning, the agency’s note indicated that the investigation had been going on for more than four years, and the key defendant in the case was the former general director of the Far Eastern Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Center, Igor Borbot. Nevertheless, Interfax soon published a new note with a comment by Rosneft - it specified that the theft at the Zvezda shipyard was before the arrival of new shareholders.

The Rosneft report says that the Interfax correspondent, when preparing the material, did not request comments from the oil company and Zvezda.

“The Interfax agency independently took actions aimed at correcting the violations committed, and apologized to the management of the Far Eastern Air Plant Zvezda and Rosneft Oil Company for the incorrect presentation of the material. The measures taken by Interfax were considered exhaustive, and the apologies were accepted,” Rosneft said in a statement.

Rosneft

• The Rosneft company and its head Igor Sechin have repeatedly sued various publications, in particular, Novaya Gazeta and Vedomosti. In the first case, the court ordered the journalists to remove material about the yacht "Princess Olga" , in the second - about the construction of a house in Barvikha .