A British court refused to allow Wheely founder Chirkunov to remove an article incriminating him from the Internet

The subject of the investigation was the article “Free Wheely: how former governor of the Perm Territory Chirkunov gave his son his dream job”, in which it was alleged that the founder of Wheely created the company with money from his father, the former director. from the Perm Territory Oleg Chirkunov. The lawsuit was filed in August of last year.

The businessman claimed that the article contained false information and its authors illegally used his personal data. The statement says that Chirkunov, with the help of the reputation management agency Adves, previously contacted the Russian Crime project to demand the removal of the material, in response, the “unknown defendant” demanded 30 thousand dollars for it;

The English court ruled that the claim against unnamed persons could not be accepted because the site’s administrators may be outside the court’s jurisdiction. In Russia, access to the Russian Crime website is closed.

Managing partner of Nova Inc. Pavel Zhelnovod, in a conversation with Vedomosti, noted that Chirkunov himself could look for site owners by hiring lawyers in the field of copyright protection. However, even attracting professionals in this field does not guarantee success, Dmitry Gorbunov, partner at Rustam Kurmaev and Partners, told the newspaper.

The reason for appealing to the English court may be Chirkunov’s desire to develop business abroad. Wheely entered the Dubai market in February. The businessman noted that the city is a center of attraction for “wealthy businessmen who emigrate from Europe, as well as for young digital nomads.”

Chirkunov created the company in 2010, the headquarters are in London and the service also operates in Paris. In Russia, Roskomnadzor blocks access to Wheely. The regulator accused the service of operating without accredited branches and refusing to provide information on vehicle movements to Moscow’s information system.