Dpa retracted its 2022 report claiming that Alicher Usmanov's sister owned the yacht Dilbar, according to a statement from the entrepreneur's press service.

2025-02-21 10:40:53https://daryo.uz/ru/2025/02/20/dpa-retracts-2022-report-on-claimed-ownership-of-yacht-dilbar

Dpa Withdraws 2022 Report on Dilbar Yacht Ownership by Alisher Usmanov's Sister - Entrepreneur's Press Service

The German news agency dpa has retracted its 2022 publication claiming that Alisher Usmanov's sister, Gulbahor Ismailova, allegedly owns the Dilbar yacht, according to a statement from the entrepreneur's press service. It is specified that this decision was made following a request from lawyers demanding the removal of false information.

According to Usmanov's press service, the information disseminated by dpa was previously used by the EU Council as justification for the sanctions imposed against Ismailova and also served as a basis for searches conducted by German law enforcement on the yacht in 2022. The statement notes that the initial source of this information was a statement from the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany (BKA), published on April 13, 2022, on social media platform X, which mentioned Ismailova as the owner of Dilbar.

After receiving an official request from Ismailova's lawyers, the BKA removed its publications. On February 17 and 18, 2025, dpa informed its partner media about the withdrawal of the news and recommended deleting publications “to avoid legal disputes”. According to the press service, following this, materials were removed from the websites of various publications, including Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Zeit, Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, and others.

The statement includes a comment from media law attorney Joachim Steinhöfel, representing the interests of Usmanov and Ismailova:

“The courts of the European Union allow the EU Council to refer to media reports as justification for sanctions, while the media, in turn, use the justification for sanctions based on their own reports as a privileged source. This is absurd and a clear violation of the fundamental principles of a constitutional state.”

The press service also reminded that representatives of Usmanov and Ismailova had repeatedly stated that the Dilbar yacht is held in an irrevocable trust established by Alisher Usmanov as part of estate planning.

“Neither A. Usmanov nor G. Ismailova had or have any rights to the trust's assets, cannot dispose of them, or exercise any control over them, as all rights belong to its trustee,”

- the statement reads.

According to the press service, from 2023 to 2025, several European media and public figures acknowledged that they could not verify the claims regarding Alisher Usmanov and Gulbahor Ismailova and signed commitments to cease their dissemination. The statement notes that about 40 such declarations were made during this period, and numerous publications voluntarily removed or corrected articles after receiving notifications from their representatives.

The press service also reported that during the legal proceedings, lawyers achieved more than 10 rulings prohibiting the dissemination of certain claims by European and American media.

In January 2024, a court prohibited publications by the American magazine Forbes, which were used as justification for the EU sanctions against Usmanov.

“A. Usmanov also won a lawsuit against the German newspaper Tagesspiegel, the Austrian newspaper Kurier, and major German broadcasters RTL and ARD/Westdeutscher Rundfunk,”

- the press service emphasized in conclusion.