In a sign of the growing reach of Russia's business elite, a billionaire tried -- and for a time succeeded -- in blocking an article in the Russian language edition of Forbes magazine which featured her on its cover.
The episode led to the resignation of Forbes' editor in Russia last week and once again raised questions about intimidation of the press here.
Attorneys for Yelena Baturina, who runs a real estate and construction business empire that Forbes reported is worth US$1.1 billion and who is also married to the mayor of Moscow, threatened to sue the German company that publishes Forbes in Russia, saying she was misquoted.
The publisher, Axel Springer of Berlin, agreed that some of Baturina's objections were valid. The edition that came out on Friday was a day late and came out after the editor in chief, Maxim Kashulinsky, resigned in protest on Thursday.
Kashulinsky, who will retain his job for two weeks after resigning, in accordance with Russian labor laws, accused Axel Springer of caving in to a powerful Russian business figure.
The episode highlighted the risks of US publishers who offer their brands in countries with limited press freedoms under a model that blends local and international content, a widespread practice in glossy magazine publishing.
Newsweek, Wallpaper, Esquire, Cosmopolitan and many other magazines publish editions in Russia, a lucrative media market.
For Forbes, the struggle to report on big business in the politically complicated Russian market is a particularly sensitive issue. Kashulinsky's predecessor, Paul Klebnikov, was gunned down in the street two years ago. Authorities have linked the slaying to his investigative work. The case has languished in Russian courts.
Kashulinsky said the article on Baturina had been leaked to her attorneys before going to press, allowing them to threaten to file suit. The article discussed Baturina's plans to adapt her business dealings for the eventual departure of her husband, Yuri Luzhkov, from the mayor's office.
In so doing, the article stirred up long simmering criticism that Baturina's business owes its success to her husband's public office. The pair married 15 years ago. Baturina is now Russia's richest woman.
The pair have a reputation of targeting Russian media with libel suits, according to Alexander Lebedev, a member of parliament and a co-owner of Novaya Gazeta, a Russian newspaper frequently critical of the government. The newspaper is also partly owned by former Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev.
"This is just another, predictable move by the city government and allied commercial structures in relating to the media," Lebedev said in a statement on Friday about the Forbes dispute.
In a statement, Axel Springer said the article went to press unaltered and that the dispute that caused the delayed release of the magazine had centered on the cover display.
On Monday, the planned Forbes cover had appeared in an ad in the Russian edition of Newsweek. The cover featured a picture of Baturina, 43, and a quote: "I am guaranteed protection."
Baturina's attorneys objected to the implied meaning of special privilege because of her husband. Her full quote as it appears in the article was: "As an investor, I am guaranteed protection of my rights."
The cover had not yet been printed, said Edda Fels, a spokeswoman for Axel Springer in Berlin. The publisher and editor discussed Baturina's objection to the partial quote, and agreed the fragment could be misleading.
It was changed to read: "As an investor, I am guaranteed protection," the version that appeared on newsstands on Friday.
Kashulinsky said that the final words "of my rights" were trimmed for space, but did not alter the meaning.
But lawyers for Inteko, Baturina's construction company, continued to press their objections with Axel Springer throughout the week, Kashulinsky said, raising objections to the article as well.
It is Forbes policy not to release articles before publication, Kashulinsky said, and it was unclear how the attorneys apparently obtained a copy. He said he resigned on Thursday to protest Axel Springer's decision to withhold the edition from newsstands. Axel Springer said the edition was withdrawn pending checks to the story.
That same day, Forbes Inc, the US publisher, issued a statement critical of Axel Springer, which has editorial control over the Russian edition, but conceded that the company had reason to proceed cautiously on the story.
Fels said the dispute over the quote on the cover, not objections from Baturina's attorneys regarding the text of the article, prompted the publisher to delay releasing the issue.
Kashulinsky characterized the delay as a decision to pull the issue on the day it was to go to newsstands, and then a reversal late on Thursday.
Fels said in a telephone interview from Berlin that Baturina had some valid points.
"She was right to say that the quote was wrong, and we corrected this before the magazine was printed," Fels said. "The cover of the magazine was known because the cover is used for advertising before the magazine is printed."
She said Axel Springer did not release materials to Baturina before publication.
"If you look at the track record of Axel Springer, with Newsweek and Forbes, we are one of the small islands of press freedom in Russia, and that is important to us," she said.
She said she hoped that Kashulinsky would reconsider his resignation.
"There were a lot of emotions on both sides," she said. "I hope when everybody has a chance to cool down, they will realize there is only one thing that counts, and that is freedom of the press, and the magazine did come to the readers unchanged."
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