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The Sale of a Top Author's Books in Germany has been Halted after a Leak Revealed that he Received €600,000 from a Putin Ally

German publisher suspends books by journalist Hubert Seipel amidst NDR investigation into €600,000 undisclosed offshore payments tied to Putin's ally. Follow the latest updates on this unfolding story.
on Nov 16, 2023

NDR opens a probe after Hubert Seipel admits to receiving funding for work on two books about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After an inquiry revealed that he had received at least €600,000 (£522,000) in unreported offshore payments from companies related to an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, a German publisher has announced a halt to the sale of books authored by a leading journalist and Russia specialist.

Hubert Seipel, an award-winning filmmaker and author, acknowledged to receiving funding for his work on two books tracing the Russian leader's ascent to power and presenting positive portraits of him.

The data came from the Cyprus Confidential project, which was based on a stockpile of 3.6 million offshore records released to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Germany's Paper Trail Media, who then shared it with the Guardian and other reporting partners.

Hoffmann und Campe, Seipel's Hamburg-based publisher, confirmed the decision to halt sales of the books on Wednesday, following the leak of offshore records indicating that companies linked to the oligarch Alexei Mordashov, a steel and banking magnate sanctioned last year for his close ties to the Kremlin, had made payments to the journalist to support the production of two books about the Russian president.

"Hoffmann und Campe Verlag has decided not to sell Hubert Seipel's books due to published media reports," a spokeswoman stated, adding that the publishing firm "had no knowledge of the facts described."

The broadcaster NDR, for whom Seipel produced a documentary in which he was given one-on-one access to Putin, as well as another interview two years later, said it has begun a probe with an external adjudicator. It stated it would put the films on hold until further notice and was exploring legal action against Seipel.

Seipel confirmed receiving money from Mordashov in an eight-page letter to the Guardian and other media partners. He stated that "his [Mordashov's] support relates exclusively to the book projects" and that he had "at no point received money from third parties for films and television interviews." He was likewise keen to emphasise his editorial independence.
According to Seipel, he has met Putin "nearly 100 times" and interviewed him numerous times, earning prime-time spots for his broadcasts, including the 2012 documentary. He was a popular pundit on mainstream television following the takeover of Crimea in 2014, and even more so during Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, billed as one of Germany's leading independent experts on Russia and someone with particularly good access to Putin.

The publications in dispute, Putin: Inner Views of Power from 2015 and Putin's Power: Why Europe Needs Russia from 2021, were both published in German and translated into Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and other languages.

Prior to announcing the suspension of book sales, Hoffmann und Campe told the Guardian that it was unaware of the payments. If confirmation of payment was supplied, it stated, "we reserve the right to take further action in connection with the books which were contracted, in 2013 and 2016, respectively, by the management at the time based on a TV documentary."

According to documents obtained by the Guardian from the Cyprus files, Seipel and a director of a firm associated with Mordashov signed a "deed of sponsorship" in March 2018, stating that he was "writing book [sic] on political environment in the Russian Federation."

According to the deed, the initiative's sponsor agreed to "support the development of this project" and "make this political and historical development available to a wider audience." Seipel was promised "logistical and organisational support" while conducting research in Russia, and he was under no obligation to repay the money if the book was never published.

NDR stated that it contacted Seipel after learning of the sponsorship contracts, and that Seipel admitted to receiving the money.

"The broadcaster sees this as a significant conflict of interest that challenges Seipel's journalistic independence," a representative for the NDR stated.

"It is suspected that we, and thus our audience, have been deliberately misled," claimed NDR director general Joachim Knuth. We are investigating this and considering legal action. We will extensively investigate the procedures surrounding the film's commissioning and production."