German journalists have found evidence of Russian funding for Hubert Seipel, a Kremlin-friendly ARD journalist who is considered one of the leading “Russia experts” in Germany.
According to European Pravda, a joint investigation was carried out Spiegel and ZDF.
Hubert Seipel in a talk show positioned himself as one of the best experts on Putin’s Russia and a Western journalist with perhaps the greatest access to the head of the Kremlin.
In 2009, Seipel released a documentary about Gazprom, when his first meeting with Putin took place. Seipel says that he spent the night at the residence of the head of the Kremlin and played billiards with him in the evening.
By his own account, he has since met Russian President Vladimir Putin about a hundred times, including accompanying him on a hunting trip in Siberia, filming footage of him playing hockey, judo training and in the swimming pool, and writing two books about Russia and Putin.
In November 2014, Seipel aired a half-hour prime-time interview with Putin.
In the final weeks before February 24, 2022, Seipel argued that NATO was “surrounding Putin” and expressed confidence that he would not start a war.
A few months ago, journalists had access to a data file he had leaked, known as “Cyprus Confidential.”
Among these documents, there was evidence that Seipel had received generous funding from Russia since at least 2018 to write a book published in 2021, “Putin’s Power. Why Europe Needs Russia.”
“The author is preparing a book about the political environment in the Russian Federation, which should be published in 2019. The sponsor wishes to support the development of the project… and make it more accessible to a wider audience by supporting the author,” the contract says. In addition, Seipel was promised “logistical and organizational support” while collecting information in Russia.
According to this contract, Seipel was supposed to receive 600 thousand euros in three tranches during 2018-2020, but in the end the money was paid in two transfers – in April 2018 and the remaining 400 thousand – in April 2019.
Another note to the contract suggests that there was a similar sponsorship contract in 2013 – for a biography book of Putin. Both were published by a reputable German publishing house.
The money was paid through a company registered in the Virgin Islands, De Vere Worldwide Corporation, whose real owner is considered to be Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov. In particular, before the funds were transferred to Seipel, money from other companies in Mordashov’s orbit entered the accounts of this company.
Seipel insists that the money he received from Russia allegedly had no influence on the way he talked about Russia at ARD and in his books.
Recall that the former Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schröderknown for his friendship with Vladimir Putin, said that the United States allegedly “broke peace negotiations” between Ukraine and Russia at the beginning of a full-scale invasion, and Kyiv invited him as a mediator.
Read also: A one-way dance with Putin: how the former head of the Austrian Foreign Ministry chose Russia as her new home
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2023-11-15 06:05:39
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