Rosneft, in its lawsuit to Important Stories, claims that it did not buy a stake in Pirelli. True, state media reported about the purchase back in 2014

The reason for the lawsuit by the state company Rosneft against “Important Stories” was the investigation “Dancer for Rosneft” about the scheme for purchasing shares of the Italian company Pirelli. The editors of the publication reported this.

As stated in the lawsuit against “Important Stories” itself and the editor of the investigative department, Roman Shleinov, the state-owned company demands that the investigation be removed from the site and claims that neither Rosneft nor anyone for Rosneft bought a stake in Pirelli in 2014.

According to the state-owned company, “the publication violated the plaintiff’s right to business reputation, since it contains untrue information that, in the context of the entire publication, discredits the business reputation of the company,” the editors convey Rosneft’s statements stated in the lawsuit.

At the same time, the world’s largest news agencies, including the Russian state agencies TASS , RIA Novosti , as well as Interfax , Vedomosti and other media, reported about Rosneft’s purchase of Pirelli’s share in 2014. In addition, the fact that Rosneft structures will be included in the share capital of Pirelli was stated in a press release from Rosneft itself. A few days before the publication of the investigation, “Important Stories” sent a request for comment to Rosneft, which remained unanswered, the publication said.

The lawsuit against Important Stories, as well as Novaya Gazeta and the Bloomberg news agency, became known on March 3. The day before, on March 7, the Moscow Arbitration Court upheld the claim against Novaya and columnist Maxim Averbukh for the protection of business reputation. The editors of Novaya never received the text of the claim.

An investigation into how shares of the Italian Pirelli were acquired by people close to the management of Rosneft was published by “Important Stories” in early February of this year. The material stated that among those who acquired shares in a foreign company was a dance teacher from Moscow.

As journalists recalled then, Rosneft announced the purchase of a 13% stake in Pirelli worth almost 553 million euros in 2014; the cooperation agreement was solemnly signed at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.