Roman Abramovich settles libel claim with HarperCollins over Putin book

Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, has settled a high profile libel lawsuit brought against HarperCollins over a book that it published last year about Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.

Abramovich had sued the publisher along with author Catherine Belton, a Reuters correspondent and former Financial Times journalist, after claiming that the book contained “false and defamatory” statements about him. He disputed claims that Putin ordered his 2003 acquisition of Chelsea as well as other allegations.

The settlement, in which HarperCollins has agreed to amend the book, Putin’s People, and make a donation to charity, draws a line under the dispute and removes the prospect of a high profile libel trial in London’s High Court between the billionaire and the publishers.

It comes after the settlement of other lawsuits brought over the book earlier this year, including legal action brought by banking tycoon Mikhail Fridman and his business partner Petr Aven, as well as a claim by Russian oil group Rosneft that was discontinued in November.

The litigation has highlighted the high stakes nature of writing about the global elite given that London’s High Court is seen as claimant friendly to those bringing libel cases.

In a statement HarperCollins said it had been made aware that the book “contained some inaccurate information” about Abramovich.

“HarperCollins has now amended the book to record the position more accurately, and include additional comments from Mr Abramovich’s spokesperson,” the statement said, adding that the publisher had amended the text about the reasons for Abramovich’s purchase of Chelsea Football Club.

“While the book always included a denial that Mr Abramovich was acting under anybody’s direction when he purchased Chelsea, the new edition will include a more detailed explanation of Mr Abramovich’s motivations for buying the club,” the HarperCollins statement said.

HarperCollins will also make a donation to charity in connection with a statement made in the book about the late Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky and Russian company Sibneft.

It said that statements which suggested that Berezovsky had been an owner of oil producer Sibneft had been corrected to make clear that “although this was a widely held view in Russia, this was found to be untrue” by the High Court in 2012 where a judge found Berezovsky to be an “inherently unreliable witness”.

The publisher said in recognition of this error it had agreed to make a payment to charity.

“HarperCollins and the author apologise that these aspects of the book were not as clear as they would have liked them to have been and are happy to have now clarified the text,” the publisher said.

Belton said in a statement that the past year had felt like a “war of attrition in which HarperCollins and I have been bombarded from all sides with lawsuits”.

“Throughout HarperCollins has staunchly defended the book. I could not have wished for a better or braver publisher,” she said.

A spokesman for Abramovich said that amendments resulting in a number of deletions and additions had been agreed. “We are pleased that HarperCollins and the author have apologised to Mr Abramovich and agreed to amend the book,” the statement added.

The spokesman noted that Abramovich stated earlier this year when issuing his lawsuit that its sole purpose was to address claims made about the nature of the purchase and activities of Chelsea Football Club.

“As the objectives of this legal claim have never been punitive, we have not asked for any damages to be paid. We have, however, asked that HarperCollins makes a donation in lieu of damages to a charitable organisation, to which they have agreed,” they said.