Interviews with Norwegian executives shed new light on murky Ukrainian deals in 2011, where rigs sold by Norwegian companies to unknown parties were resold to a Ukrainian state oil company in apparently fixed tenders for enormous mark-ups.

In 2007, President Vladimir Putin established the Russkiy Mir foundation. Designed to promote Russian culture abroad, the foundation prides itself on being open. But Re:Baltica found consistent lack of transparency in the foundation’s activities in the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Russkiy Mir doesn’t disclose all organizations it funds and what amounts were granted to which organizations. Who got this funding and how was it used? Explore this first cross-border investigation in the Baltics to find out.

This interactive explainer shows the key findings of the investigation done by the three journalists in the Baltic States. You can read all stories in English or each story in the native language of the journalist (Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian).

Who owns the biggest Russian media holding in the Baltic States?

The long arm of Moscow or just a business? The First Baltic Channel (PBK) is the most popular Russian television channel among the Baltic Russians. At the start of the year, the channel’s total audience in the Baltics exceeded four million viewers. Currently the goal of PBK’s parent company Baltic Media Alliance (BMA) is to become the leading media holding company in the Baltics, and it’s a very realizable goal. It’s not only because the PBK is re-telecasting popular Russia’s TV channels. It’s also because PBK is ready to serve the needs of leading politicians to fill its coffers.

Re:Baltica undertook an investigation, in Latvia and Estonia, find out who owns the influential media concern and what is the secret of the company’s success.

“I talk and negotiate with Riga, with Oleg Solodov and others. Even the money that we [the City of Tallinn] pay goes to Riga, not to Tallinn”, says Lev Vaino, referring to the 425,000 euro contract for the production and transmission of three different shows on Pervõi Baltiiski Kanal – “Our capital” (“Наша столица”), “Good morning Tallinn” (“Доброе утро, Таллинн!”) and “Russian question” (Русский вопрос”). The City of Tallinn is a trusted client of PBK and almost the same amount of money (425,382 euro) was paid again in 2012 for PBK to continue producing the same programmes.