Gunvor co-owner Gennady Timchenko and The Economist reached a settlement in London’s High Court on Tuesday over a libel suit filed in January.
Timchenko sued the magazine over an article from November 2008 that linked the rise of his oil trading company in 2003 and 2004 to his acquaintance with then-President Vladimir Putin. He demanded undisclosed damages for libel and a ban on the publication from publishing similar statements.
A joint statement from The Economist and Timchenko will be published in the next issue, a spokeswoman for the magazine said, declining to elaborate.
A businessman close to Timchenko said he “succumbed to his emotions.”
He later learned that the proceedings would be open and that he would have to disclose information about Gunvor’s business and partners, the source said.
“He wasn’t ready for that, so a peaceful settlement was the best way out,” he said.