Court orders newspaper to destroy remaining editions with article on Rosneft chief

A municipal court in Moscow has upheld a decision to have destroy the newspaper Vedomosti destroy all remaining editions containing an article on Igor Sechin, the head of state-owned oil company Rosneft.

Igor Sechin sued the independent newspaper Vedomosti for publishing a story claiming that he was building himself a new home in a luxury suburb outside Moscow.

According to court documents, Sechin filed a lawsuit on August 19. The defendants are listed as Rinat Sagdiyev, the author of the story, and the company Business News Media, which publishes Vedomosti.

Mikhail Leontiev, Rosneft's press secretary, told the news agency RNS that Sechin demanded a retraction from Vedomosti, but was not seeking payment for damages.

On July 20, 2016, Vedomosti published an investigative report claiming that Sechin owns more than seven acres of land in a new luxury development outside Moscow.