Interfax () is a Russian

news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and News broadcasting, television Broadcasting, broadcasters. A news agency ma ...

. The agency is owned by Interfax News Agency

joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...

and is headquartered in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

History

As the first non-governmental channel of political and economic information about the USSR, Interfax was formed in September 1989, during

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

’s ''

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

and glasnost'' period, by Mikhail Komissar and his colleagues from international broadcasting station ' Radio Moscow', a part of Soviet Gosteleradio system. Interfax originally used fax machines for text transmission, hence the company name.
Михаил Комиссар: задача «Интерфакса» — быть номером один
'. — TV-channel ' Russia-24', 9 September 2009. By 1990, Interfax had 100 subscribers and the agency quickly began to attract the attention of conservatives within the government, who attempted to shut down the agency. This saw the agency gain prominence in major western media, a position strengthened by its coverage of the 1991 August Putsch and the

collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

.Корпоративный бюллетень
Ваш Интерфакс
�. — #10/2009. Interfax-presscentreMoscow2016

Interfax continued to expand in the 1990s, adding

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

agencies for

financial Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

, metallurgical, oil and gas markets, information products on

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

business law Commercial law (or business law), which is also known by other names such as mercantile law or trade law depending on jurisdiction; is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and organizations engaged in ...

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

, and the market data terminal 'EFiR information system' for

stock market A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange a ...

players to its general news coverage.
About
''. — Official site of EFiR system. Interfax also opened subsidiaries across the

post-Soviet states The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...

, first in Ukraine (1992), Belarus (1993) and Kazakhstan (1996), and later in Azerbaijan (2002),
Our history
''. — Official site of Interfax Group. during this time bringing the number of local offices across the regions of Russian Federation to 50.
Михаил Комиссар: «Надеюсь, в России установится баланс между либеральным и государственным»
'. — Politcom.ru, 1 September 2006. To promote its information products abroad, Interfax opened its first company outside the former USSR in 1991, when 'Interfax America' was opened in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, CO. This was followed by the opening of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based 'Interfax Europe Ltd.' (1992), 'Interfax Germany GmbH', based in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

(1993), and the 'Interfax News Service Ltd.' in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

(1998). In 2004, Interfax created the 'SPARK system' designed to check business agents in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan,
Информация по юридическим лицам РФ, Украины и Казахстана
''. — Official site of Interfax Group. Interfax also launched media monitoring services through its 'SCAN system'.
About
''. — Official site of United Credit Bureau. In 2011, the company added London-based project, 'Interfax Global Energy', which reports on the energy markets worldwide.
Interfax Global Energy
'. — Official site of Interfax Global Energy.

Partnerships

In 1999, Interfax launched a rating agency in partnership with

Moody's Investors Service Moody's Ratings, previously and still legally known as Moody's Investors Service and often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its histo ...

to provide rating services on the Russian market. SPARK system became the basis for a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with

Dun & Bradstreet The Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. (D&B) is an American company that provides commercial data, analytics, and insights for businesses. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the company offers a wide range of products and services for risk a ...

, a provider of business credit information and

credit report A credit history is a record of a borrower's responsible repayment of debts. A credit report is a record of the borrower's credit history from a number of sources, including banks, credit card companies, collection agencies, and governments. A bo ...

s.
Информация по компаниям всего мира
''. — Official site of Interfax Group. Also in 1999, Interfax and Reuters signed a cooperation agreement. Since 2001, Interfax has collaborated with

Business Wire Business Wire is an American company that disseminates full-text press releases from thousands of companies and organizations worldwide to news media, financial markets, disclosure systems, investors, information web sites, databases, bloggers, ...

, which distributes corporate regulatory disclosures and press releases. Interfax also offers consumer

s via a joint venture with Experian and Sberbank of Russia.

Management

'Interfax Group'

senior management Senior management, executive management, or upper management is an occupation at the highest level of management of an organization, performed by individuals who have the day-to-day tasks of managing the organization, sometimes a company or a cor ...

includes Mikhail Komissar as

chairman of the board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

and CEO, Vladimir Gerasimov, executive director and general director of financial and business information service, Georgy Gulia, executive director of general information service.
Management
''. — Official site of Interfax Group.

Content

Interfax provides general and political news, business credit information, industry analysis,

market data In finance, market data is price and other related data for a financial instrument reported by a trading venue such as a stock exchange. Market data allows traders and investors to know the latest price and see historical trends for instruments ...

and business solutions for

risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environ ...

, compliance and

credit Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt) ...

management. The company employs over 1,000 staff in over 70 bureaus worldwide and publishes over 3,000 stories each day.

Dissemination

Interfax controls around 50% of the Russian corporate data market.Информационно-справочные системы
. - RBC.Marketing. Subscription-based business and financial intelligence contribute to the bulk of the revenues generated by Interfax with IT-analytical business solutions accounting for approximately 75% of revenue.Комиссар М.
Успеть первыми
'. - Корпоративный бюллетень «Ваш Интерфакс», #16/2014. Interfax's

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

comprises more than 30 news producing and marketing companies in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

(

Interfax-Ukraine Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German. The company owns a 50-seat press centre. The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022) ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

.Гавшина О., Товкайло М.
Из списка подлежащих раскрытию бенефициаров сделали исключения
'. — Vedomosti, January 19, 2012.

Awards

In 2015, Interfax was awarded the Runet Prize in the category "Culture, Media and Mass Communications" by the Russian Federal Agency for Press and Mass Media. In 2016, Interfax was awarded the Runet Prize in the category “Economy, Business and Investment".

References

Literature

* Boyd-Barrett O.
Interfax: Breaking Into Global News
'. — Scotforth Books, 2014. — p. 184. — * Shrivastava K. ''News Agencies: From Pigeon to Internet''. — Sterling Publishers Private Limited, 2007. — p. 208. — * Герасимов В., Ромов Р., Новиков А., Бондаренко С., Бабиченко С.
Технология новостей от Интерфакса
' / Под ред. Ю. Погорелого. — Moscow: Аспект Пресс, 2011. — 160 с. —

External links

* * , official site * Кондратьев В.
Героические страницы истории «Интерфакса»
'. — NTV TV-channel, 9 September 2009. *
20 лет «Интерфаксу»
'. — Echo of Moscow radio, 9 September 2009. {{Authority control News agencies based in Russia Russian news websites Mass media in Moscow Eastern Bloc mass media Mass media companies of the Soviet Union 1989 establishments in the Soviet Union Companies established in 1989