Richest Russian Woman Wins Lawsuit Against Forbes
Russia’s only female billionaire, Yelena Baturina, has won a libel suit against Forbes magazine. The victory came against the editor of the local edition of the magazine after a cover story was published about how she acquired her wealth. Baturina is also the wife of Mayor Yury Luzhkov.
The Chertanovsky Court has awarded the sum of 106,500 rubles ($4,089) to Inteko, Baturina’s company. The editor, Maxim Kashulinsky, has been ordered to pay it because he publically claimed that the company pressured him to not run the article in question in the December issue.
Kashulinsky’s lawyer plans to appeal the decision. They will plan to extend the case until December, possibly to take advantage of the fact that Luzhkov will be stepping down as mayor then.
Baturina was listed as number 30 on the list of 52 Russian billionaires an according to Forbes annual world wealth survey, her fortune almost tripled from $1.1 billion two years ago to $3.1 billion last year. Her husband has been the mayor of the capital for 15 years and has ruled over a major building boom in the city that transformed Moscow. It also has drawn a critical response from numerous conservation groups.
Her company is also suing the Alex Springer unit responsible for publishing Russian Forbes, Axel Springer Russia, for the same story which claimed that Inteko has gotten special treatment and benefits from Baturina’s marriage to Luzhkov. That lawsuit is scheduled to be heard on April 4th.
