German court bans Forbes from saying billionaire Alisher Usmanov ‘fronted’ for Putin

A Hamburg court has upheld billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s lawsuit banning Forbes from claiming that the businessman “solved [Russian President Vladimir Putin’s] business problems,” reports news agency RBC, citing the court’s decision.

The lawsuit was filed on February 27, 2023, prompted by a Forbes article called “Meet Putin’s Oligarchs Most Likely to get Slapped with Sanctions by Biden over Ukraine” published on February 2, 2022. The article listed Usmanov, along with other Russian billionaires, who were not yet sanctioned.

Forbes listed some of Usmanov’s assets and wrote: “Usmanov has repeatedly fronted for Putin and solved his business problems, according to the expert.”

Usmanov’s defense said that that the article contained unsubstantiated claims, including a quote from an anonymous expert, which was later used by the Council of the E.U. to justify sanctions against the businessman. The billionaire’s lawyers called the article’s statements false and defamatory.

According to RBC, Forbes refused to reveal the anonymous source cited in the article. The outlet also didn’t give any examples as to when and how Usmanov “solved [Putin’s] business problems.”

In the article, Forbes cites Usmanov’s purchase of a stake in Russian mobile phone operator MegaFon from Russia’s former Communications Minister Leonid Reiman as an example of his ties to Putin. RBC notes that Reiman has repeatedly denied that he owned the company.