A regional court in Hamburg on January 23 ruled in favour of Alisher Usmanov in a lawsuit against the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Kursiv Uzbekistan was told by the Russian businessman’s press office.
The FAZ article, titled On the Kremlin’s Instructions, allegedly claimed that Usmanov informally represented Russian authorities in Uzbekistan and interfered in the editorial policy of the Kommersant newspaper after acquiring it in 2006. The publication also asserted that the businessman used his wealth in the interests of or on instructions from Moscow.
The Hamburg court ruled that the claims violated Usmanov’s personal rights and banned their further dissemination. For each breach of the ban, the court may impose a fine of up to 250,000 euros. If the fine cannot be enforced, administrative detention of up to six months per violation may be ordered, with a maximum of two years in total, the press office said.
Case related to Navalny
In a separate decision, the court for the first time prohibited the spread of statements by Alexei Navalny alleging that Usmanov had «gifted» property to entities linked to Russian Security Council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev.
A Russian court had previously ruled Navalny’s statements false. Claims about Usmanov’s alleged interference in Kommersant were also cited by the European Union as grounds for imposing sanctions against the businessman.
The Hamburg court heard the case in person. Lawyers representing FAZ failed to provide any evidence to support the disputed claims.
Usmanov has previously won court cases against several foreign outlets, including Forbes in the United States as well as Germany’s Tagesspiegel, Austria’s Exxpress and Luxembourg Times.
In late 2025, German authorities dropped an investigation into alleged violations of foreign trade law against Alisher Usmanov. A separate probe into suspected money laundering was closed in 2024.
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