How KTB Put Deutsche Welle on Its Knees

A letter is haunting Europe, a letter from Corporate Commercial Bank, KTB, to the Bulgarian section of German media Deutsche Welle. This letter prompted the media to dismiss journalists Emmy Baruch and Ivan Bedrov, who dared to write comments that were not liked by the Bank. The move shocked Bulgaria’s journalists’ guild. Deutsche Welle refused to provide the letter to them. However, it ended on Balkanleaks and from it, it emerged that the media has reacted to a slanderous accusation by the Bank.

https://www.balkanleaks.eu/en/letter-ccbank-dw.html

The guild’s outrage prompted an unprecedented press conference of Deutsche Welle’s management. They arrived in Sofia to whitewash the scandal and to get an “on the sidelines” interview with the very chief of KTB, banker Tsvetan Vassilev.

At the briefing, we asked 3 questions: when was the KTB letter received by Deutsche Welle; when did the procedure for the dismissal of Emmy Baruh and Ivan Bedrov start, and what was the full text of the letter. The answer was that Deutsche Well does not publish their correspondence.

Deutsche Welle’s official position is that they did not succumb to pressure; Bedrov’s and Baruh’s dismissal was INDEPENDENT of the KTB letter, and all articles written by the authors were examined in detail. At the press conference, Christian Gramsch explained that the analysis of the articles also involved two independent translations. At the end, the management of DW has made the conclusion that the authors have breached the media’s journalistic standards.

An investigation of Bivol restored the following timeline of events:

• The document, leaked in Balkanleaks, shows that the letter was filed by KTB on Friday, August 30, and sent to DW by a courier service.
• The letter was received by DW on a date marked with X, but no earlier than September 2. It is a strange coincidence that precisely on September 2, the authors were warned to not mention in their articles KTB and Tsvetan Vassilev because “a legal issue had emerged.” 
• On September 12, Baruh and Bedrov received an email from Verica Spasovka, notifying them that they have been dismissed after a thorough examination of their articles on grounds of “breaches of journalistic standards.”

The first question that pops up is how in the course of 8 workdays, DW managed to translate and analyze all articles of the two authors which have been dedicated to various issues. Scores, even hundreds of articles, as Emmy Baruh worked for DW for 24 years. This is, obviously, impossible.

J'accuse: Deutsche Welle is lying! They must say which exact texts were translated and analyzed, in addition to those listed in Tsvetan Vassilev’s letter.

The second question is related to timing - if the letter was sent on Friday and, let’s say, received on Monday, how come the entire editorial office got immediately mobilized to examine the case? Is it possible that the letter was preceded by a phone call?

Other issues revolve around journalistic standards: how is it possible for a respected media to part with an author, with whom it had been in partnership for 24 years, over 3 lines in an email? Moreover, on grounds of such clumsy accusation? Why after translating and analyzing all texts, DW refused to point facts in the comments of the two authors that contradict the truth? Why Verica Spasovska, who doesn’t work as journalist, but as manager in DW, interviewed banker Tsvetan Vasilev in person? They could have sent DW’s finance department head as well. Are these their standards?

At the end, everyone realized that the reality is quite different: Ivan Bedrov and Emmy Baruh have been dismissed due to pressure from KTB. The independent German public radio sent a dangerous signal to Bulgaria’s media community, which is also subjected to unprecedented in Europe pressure from the oligarchic power. What is even more unpleasant is that DW continues to cover up the truth, the very same truth an independent and respected media has the calling to serve.

If DW are indeed an independent media and work with established professional and democratic standards, as they claim, is their management going to give green light to a more detailed journalistic investigation in the issue of KTB, Tsvetan Vassilev, and the suffocation of free speech in Bulgaria? In this case, such investigation is simply a must for the media, discredited by this scandal. Is DW going to investigate KTB or, from now on, this bank will be a “taboo” topic for the editorial office as it is for most Bulgarian media? We will judge the real independence of DW by the answer to this question; its independence from oligarchic and mafia structures in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe.

 

 

Translation from German of the KTB letter to DW

Corporate Commercial Bank, JSC

Central Headquarters

File number 5160/30.08.2013

To:

Mr. Peter Clever, Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Mr. Valentin Schmidt, Chairman of the Broadcasting Board

Mr. Eric Betterman, Director General on a Global Mission

Mr. Dr. Reinhard Hartstein, Administrative Director and Deputy Director General

Mr. Christoph Lanz, Director of Global Content

Ms. Ute Schaeffer, Editor in Chief for Regionalized Content

Mr. Christian Gramsch, Director Regionalized Content

Mr. Klaus Bergmann, Head of International Relations,

Mr. Peter Niepalla, Legal Advisor,

Mr. Andreas Hammerling, Auditor and Special Representative on Corruption

Dear editors and senior executives of Deutsche Welle,

With this letter we want to alert you about a worrying trend in your media that we have been following with concern.

Since the beginning of 2013, the Bulgarian office of Deutsche Welle has been leading a purposeful campaign to denigrate the name of Corporate Commercial Bank and the chairman of its Supervisory Board, Mr. Tsvetan Vasilev.

Journalists, including Ms. Emmy Baruch and Mr. Ivan Bedrov, use the internationally-renowned name of the prestigious and respected DW media to exert pressure on our company and to damage the reputation of Corporate Commercial Bank, KTB - a financial institution with 20 years of history, with innovative and sustainable approach and responsible attitude towards Bulgarian public and business community.

The Broadcasting Act, under federal law, which governs the creation, existence and purpose of your organization, lists among your priorities the mission to spread a wide picture of the political, cultural and economic life in the Federal Republic of Germany and to provide a publicly available and objective forum for discussions on important issues of society’s life in European countries and countries from other continents.

The biased discrediting of Corporate Commercial Bank and Mr. Tsvetan Vassilev is in gross contradiction with these priorities and does not contribute in any way to the exchange of ideas, culture and values between countries, based on objectivity, dialogue and understanding, which your consider to be your guiding principles.

We believe that you, as recognized experts and leaders of a media with more than 1,500 employees from over 60 countries, following an assessment of these facts, will immediately take the necessary measures to put an end to this inappropriate campaign.

The latter is of common interest as it would prevent the transfer of the case to the responsible national and European authorities and institutions.

In this particular case, we want to present to your attention the contents of 13 articles, published since the beginning of 2013 until now, (see Annex, translation of articles in German). Among them, you will find the publications of Mrs. Emmy Baruch and Mr. Ivan Bedrov, together with comments of their colleagues.

We emphasize that Corporate Commercial Bank and Mr. Tsvetan Vasilev have not been approached for their views and opinions for even one single article. As you will be undoubtedly convinced that these authors are biased, one-sided, negatively burdened and prejudiced, you will also see that they do not refer to any official data as evidence. The information in these publications is not based on consistent facts and has not been confirmed by independent sources.

Such campaign, undeniably, discredits DW as an independent media and leaves the Bulgarian and international public with an impression of false and misleading reporting, which is harmful for the trust you enjoy as a globally-recognized media.

As we believe that this was a case of abuse of the authority and reputation of Deutsche Welle, but do not wish to change your policy and guidelines, which have earned you credibility around the world, we want to use this letter to express our position on these formulated statements:

(To be continued with the excerpts from the 13 articles.)

Respectfully,

Orlin Russev, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO

Ilian Zaphirov, Member of the Board of Directors and CEO

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