The article about Russian oil giant Rosneft's possible involvement in funding the EU election campaign of the euroskeptic Lega party released by Turin's La Stampa newspaper is based on the journalistic investigation carried out by Italy's L'Espresso weekly, Luca Fornovo, the deputy chief of La Stampa's financial desk, told Sputnik on Friday, commenting on Rosneft's demand to retract article
ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd February, 2019) The article about Russian oil giant Rosneft's possible involvement in funding the EU election campaign of the euroskeptic Lega party released by Turin's La Stampa newspaper is based on the journalistic investigation carried out by Italy's L'Espresso weekly, Luca Fornovo, the deputy chief of La Stampa's financial desk, told Sputnik on Friday, commenting on Rosneft's demand to retract article.Earlier in the day, Rosneft demanded that La Stampa retract its article alleging that the company might be involved in Lega's funding, threatening to take the case to court.
"In this case, we are dealing with the investigation of L'Espresso weekly. It is mentioned both in our publication and in the article's subtitle. It is an investigation by our colleagues from L'Espresso, therefore, all questions should be addressed to them," Fornovo said.
La Stampa's printed version on Friday published a preview of L'Espresso news weekly magazine, which is a part of the same Italian media conglomerate GEDI Gruppo Editoriale. In the preview, the magazine promises an "exclusive material" in its Sunday issue, claiming that Lega, which is part of Italy's ruling coalition, received large funding from Russia in the run-up to the May European Parliament elections.
According to the magazine, the transaction to transfer "Russian money to Italian nationalists led by deputy prime minister" and Lega leader Matteo Salvini was disguised as a deal on supplies of at least 3 million tonnes of fuel.
The magazine alleges that secret negotiations on this deal took place in recent months between Gianluca Savoini, "one of the most loyal people" of the Lega leader, and "prominent representatives of [Vladimir] Putin's establishment." The publication describes Salvini's October visit to Moscow as a decisive moment for sealing this deal.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile, declined to comment on this publication, recommending asking the media outlet to clarify what its allegations were based on.
