German journalist is said to have received hundreds of thousands of euros from Russia
Hubert Seipel and Vladimir Putin in 2016
Source: picture alliance/dpa/Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/Kreml
Hubert Seipel has interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin several times. Now research reveals: The award-winning journalist is said to have been supported by an oligarch – with a large sum – for a book project about Russia.
DThe award-winning German TV journalist and Putin biographer Hubert Seipel is said to have received hundreds of thousands of euros from Russia for his work and to have hidden this from NDR, his book publisher and the public. This is shown by confidential documents from Cyprus, about which the “Mirror” and ZDF report. The documents were therefore evaluated as part of the international research “Cyprus Confidential”.
According to reports, Seipel signed a “sponsorship contract” for a book project, originally called “Deed of Sponsorship,” which was very generously rewarded with 600,000 euros. “The author is writing a book about the political environment in the Russian Federation, which is to be published in 2019,” the “Spiegel” quotes from the contract from March 2018. “The sponsor would like to support the development of the project and this political and historical “To make the development accessible to a wider audience through the author’s support.” In addition, Seipel should receive “logistical and organizational support” during his research in Russia.
According to the contract, Seipel’s “sponsor”, his contractual partner, is a shell company called De Vere Worldwide Corporation, reports “Spiegel”. This is based in the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. De Vere apparently belongs to the company network of the Russian oligarch and long-time major TUI shareholder Alexei Mordashov, whom the European Union sanctioned in February 2022 because of his proximity to President Vladimir Putin.
According to the report, a handwritten note on the contract with Seipel suggests that a similar agreement for a Putin biography already existed in 2013. Seipel is the first renowned Western journalist to be known to have been paid by Putin’s entourage.
Seipel admits “support” from Alexei Mordashov
Seipel, who had interviewed Putin several times for NDR television, admitted to “Spiegel” that Alexei Mordashov had “supported him”. However, the now sanctioned oligarch had no influence on the content of his books, said Seipel. According to Spiegel, the contract actually states that the author has no “obligations to the sponsor in relation to the project (neither in relation to the content or composition of the book nor in any other respect) or its completion”.
The biography “Putin. Inside Views of Power”, 2021 “Putin’s Power. Why Europe needs Russia”. Both books were published by Hoffmann and Campe. The publisher and also the NDR explained to “Spiegel” that they knew nothing about the payments and that they had the processes examined internally, also with a view to legal action.