'Putin’s favorite oligarch’ gets his day in court

A court in Hamburg, Germany on Friday ruled in favor of Russian-Uzbek billionaire and USM Holding founder Alisher Usmanov in his lawsuit against Austrian newspaper Kurier, EU Today has reported, citing court documents.

According to the report, in an August 2023 article entitled “Oligarchs of Russia: Financing Putin’s Wars and Profiting from Them” Kurier called Usmanov “one of Putin's favorite oligarchs,” referring to the Russian president.

“The native of Uzbekistan enjoys the reputation of being ‘Putin’s favorite oligarch,’ a title bestowed upon him by Putin himself,” the article claimed.

The court did not find any public record that the Russian president had made the statement the article referred to. The newspaper had argued that Usmanov had been described using the same phrase in the justification for EU sanctions placed on him last year. However, the court found this insufficient ground to use the moniker in the article.

The ruling stated that the phrase was defamatory and violated Usmanov’s rights, effectively banning its use by the media.

“Kurier newspaper failed to demonstrate the veracity of the defamatory assertion that Putin referred to Usmanov as his ‘favourite oligarch’,” the document read.

A prominent businessman with ties to Russia, Usmanov was placed under EU sanctions on February 28, 2022, shortly after the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine. He has reportedly been contesting restrictions against him in EU courts ever since.

Last fall, local authorities searched Usmanov’s villas in Germany. Tagesschau news outlet reported at the time that the searches were related to accusations against the billionaire regarding alleged tax evasion, money laundering, and sanctions violations. In May this year, a German court declared the searches illegal.

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