{{short description|Russian news agency}} {{about|the Russian news agency Interfax|the Ukrainian news agency named Interfax|Interfax-Ukraine}} {{Infobox company | name = Interfax | logo = File:Interfax Logo.svg | native_name = Интерфакс | native_name_lang = ru | type = Private limited company | foundation = {{Start date|1989|09}} | location = 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya str. 2 | hq_location_city = Moscow | hq_location_country = Russia | key_people = {{ill|Mikhail Komissar|ru|Комиссар, Михаил Витальевич}}<br>(chairman and CEO)<br>Vladimir Gerasimov<br>(executive director; Interfax Group. general director) | revenue = | industry = News media | products = Wire service | area_served = Worldwide | owner = Senior management | operating_income = | net_income = | num_employees = Over 1,000 | parent = | subsid = | footnotes = | homepage = [http://interfax.com interfax.com] }} '''Interfax''' ({{langx|ru|Интерфакс}}) is a Russian news agency.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Watanabe|first=Kohei|date=2017-03-20|title=Measuring news bias: Russia's official news agency ITAR-TASS' coverage of the Ukraine crisis|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0267323117695735|journal=European Journal of Communication|volume=32|issue=3|pages=224–241|doi=10.1177/0267323117695735|s2cid=151984613|issn=0267-3231|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Воронов А.|date=2005-12-17|script-title=ru:''Интеллектуальная собственность''|url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=636458|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520104746/http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/636458|archive-date=2014-05-20|access-date=2011-01-29|publisher=— Kommersant|language=ru}}</ref> The agency is owned by Interfax News Agency joint-stock company and is headquartered in Moscow.
== History == As the first non-governmental channel of political and economic information about the USSR,<ref>{{Cite web|title=группа "Интерфакс"|url=http://group.interfax.ru/default.asp|access-date=2020-07-09|website=group.interfax.ru|archive-date=2020-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709003423/http://group.interfax.ru/default.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> Interfax was formed in September 1989, during Mikhail Gorbachev’s ''perestroika 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.<ref name="vestiru">''[http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=314295 Михаил Комиссар: задача «Интерфакса» — быть номером один]''. — TV-channel 'Russia-24', 9 September 2009. {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
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.<ref name="bulletin">Корпоративный бюллетень «[http://www.interfax.ru/ftproot/files/Vash_INT_10.pdf Ваш Интерфакс]». — #10/2009. {{in lang|ru}}</ref> left|thumb|190px|Interfax Press Center in Moscow (2016) Interfax continued to expand in the 1990s, adding subsidiary agencies for financial, metallurgical, oil and gas markets, information products on agriculture, business law, transport, telecommunications,<ref name="vestiru" /> and the market data terminal 'EFiR information system' for stock market players to its general news coverage.<ref name="efir">''[http://www.ideal.ru/text.asp?Rbr=1 About] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426154912/http://www.ideal.ru/text.asp?Rbr=1 |date=2019-04-26 }}''. — Official site of EFiR system. {{in lang|ru}}</ref> Interfax also opened subsidiaries across the post-Soviet states, first in Ukraine (1992), Belarus (1993) and Kazakhstan (1996), and later in Azerbaijan (2002),<ref name="history">''[http://group.interfax.ru/history.asp?rbr=9 Our history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151226194014/http://group.interfax.ru/history.asp?rbr=9 |date=2015-12-26 }}''. — Official site of Interfax Group. {{in lang|ru}}</ref> during this time bringing the number of local offices across the regions of Russian Federation to 50.<ref name="politcom">''[http://politcom.ru/3331.html Михаил Комиссар: «Надеюсь, в России установится баланс между либеральным и государственным»]''. — Politcom.ru, 1 September 2006. {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
To promote its information products abroad, Interfax opened its first company outside the former USSR in 1991, when 'Interfax America' was opened in Denver, CO. This was followed by the opening of London-based 'Interfax Europe Ltd.' (1992), 'Interfax Germany GmbH', based in Frankfurt (1993), and the 'Interfax News Service Ltd.' in Hong Kong (1998).<ref name="history" />
In 2004, Interfax created the 'SPARK system' designed to check business agents in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan,<ref name="sparc">''[http://group.interfax.ru/rbr.asp?rbr=34 Информация по юридическим лицам РФ, Украины и Казахстана] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408083110/https://group.interfax.ru/rbr.asp?rbr=34 |date=2022-04-08 }}''. — Official site of Interfax Group. {{in lang|ru}}</ref> Interfax also launched media monitoring services through its 'SCAN system'.<ref name="ucb">''[http://www.bki-okb.ru/about?lang=en About] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828024505/http://www.bki-okb.ru/about?lang=en |date=2016-08-28 }}''. — Official site of United Credit Bureau.</ref> In 2011, the company added London-based project, 'Interfax Global Energy', which reports on the energy markets worldwide.<ref name="ige">''[http://interfaxenergy.com/about Interfax Global Energy]''. — Official site of Interfax Global Energy.</ref>
== Partnerships ==
In 1999, Interfax launched a rating agency in partnership with Moody's Investors Service to provide rating services on the Russian market.<ref name="history" /> SPARK system became the basis for a joint venture with Dun & Bradstreet, a provider of business credit information and credit reports.<ref name="dandb">''[http://group.interfax.ru/rbr.asp?rbr=35 Информация по компаниям всего мира] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710052204/http://www.group.interfax.ru/rbr.asp?rbr=35 |date=2016-07-10 }}''. — Official site of Interfax Group. {{in lang|ru}}</ref> Also in 1999, Interfax and Reuters signed a cooperation agreement.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1999-04-18|title=Новости|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2286574|access-date=2020-07-09|website=www.kommersant.ru|language=ru}}</ref>
Since 2001, Interfax has collaborated with Business Wire, which distributes corporate regulatory disclosures and press releases.<ref name="history" /> Interfax also offers consumer credit reports via a joint venture with Experian and Sberbank of Russia.<ref name="ucb"/>
== Management == 'Interfax Group' senior management includes Mikhail Komissar as chairman of the board and CEO, Vladimir Gerasimov, executive director and general director of financial and business information service, Georgy Gulia, executive director of general information service.<ref name="persons">''[http://www.group.interfax.ru/persons.asp?rbr=8&tp=1 Management] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201215134/http://www.group.interfax.ru/persons.asp?rbr=8&tp=1 |date=2014-02-01 }}''. — Official site of Interfax Group. {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
== Analysis and bias == Interfax provides general and political news, business credit information, industry analysis, market data and business solutions for risk, compliance and credit management. The company employs over 1,000 staff in over 70 bureaus worldwide and publishes over 3,000 stories each day.<ref name="about">{{cite web|title=''About Interfax''|url=http://www.interfax.com/txt.asp?rbr=1|access-date=2016-07-20|publisher=— Interfax Group official site.}}</ref>
== Dissemination == Interfax controls around 50% of the Russian corporate data market.<ref name="rbc">[http://marketing.rbc.ru/reviews/it-business/chapter_3_4.shtml Информационно-справочные системы] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916101903/http://marketing.rbc.ru/reviews/it-business/chapter_3_4.shtml|date=2016-09-16}}. - RBC.Marketing. {{in lang|ru}}</ref> 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.<ref name="yourinterfax">Комиссар М. ''[http://group.interfax.ru/ftproot/files/Vash_INT_16.pdf Успеть первыми]''. - Корпоративный бюллетень «Ваш Интерфакс», #16/2014. {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
Interfax's holding company{{clarify|reason=What is the name of the holding company? What does it own and control, e.g. does it really control Interfax-Ukraine or not?|date=May 2023}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=INTERFAX INFORMATION SERVICES LIMITED|url=https://opencorporates.com/companies/cy/HE379545|website=opencorporates.com|accessdate=2023-04-16}}</ref> comprises more than 30 news producing and marketing companies in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and China.<ref name="beneficiary">Гавшина О., Товкайло М. ''[https://www.vedomosti.ru/business/articles/2012/01/19/lgota_dlya_smi Из списка подлежащих раскрытию бенефициаров сделали исключения]''. — Vedomosti, January 19, 2012. {{in lang|ru}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}}
== Awards == In 2015, Interfax was awarded the Runet Prize in the category "Culture, Media and Mass Communications"<ref>{{Cite web|title=Итоги «Премии Рунета 2015»|url=https://www.shopolog.ru/news/itogi-premii-runeta-2015/|access-date=2020-07-14|website=SHOPOLOG.RU}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{Cite web|title=SPARK project wins Runet Prize in "Economy, business and investment" nomination|url=https://interfax.com/newsroom/press-releases/1198/|access-date=2020-07-14|website=interfax.com}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|3}}
==Literature== * Boyd-Barrett O. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20160803011820/http://www.oliverboydbarrett.com/recent-books-2 Interfax: Breaking Into Global News]''. — Scotforth Books, 2014. — p. 184. — {{ISBN|978-1909817135}} * Shrivastava K. ''News Agencies: From Pigeon to Internet''. — Sterling Publishers Private Limited, 2007. — p. 208. — {{ISBN|978-1-932705-67-6}} * Герасимов В., Ромов Р., Новиков А., Бондаренко С., Бабиченко С. ''[http://www.journ.msu.ru/science/books/2088/ Технология новостей от Интерфакса]'' / Под ред. Ю. Погорелого. — Moscow: Аспект Пресс, 2011. — 160 с. — {{ISBN|978-5-7567-0608-6}} {{in lang|ru}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Interfax}} * {{official|http://www.interfax.com/|Interfax Information Services Group}} * {{official|http://www.interfax.ru/|«Интерфакс»}}, official site {{in lang|ru}} * Кондратьев В. ''[http://www.ntv.ru/novosti/174913/ Героические страницы истории «Интерфакса»]''. — NTV TV-channel, 9 September 2009. {{in lang|ru}} * ''[http://echo.msk.ru/programs/razvorot/618818-echo/ 20 лет «Интерфаксу»]''. — Echo of Moscow radio, 9 September 2009. {{in lang|ru}}
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Category:News agencies based in Russia Category:Russian news websites Category:Mass media in Moscow Category:Eastern Bloc mass media Category:Mass media companies of the Soviet Union Category:1989 establishments in the Soviet Union Category:Companies established in 1989