Interfax turns 25

Twenty-five yeas ago, in September 1989, subscribers received the first news issues from Interfax.

Interfax emerged in the times of perestroika and glasnost. We have been developing together with democracy in our life and Russia‘s new market economy. We mastered new technologies. We expanded our reach.

Changing, we strived to remain the same, follow basic principles of independent journalism, remain unbiased and provide information that would let us make the right decisions in both politics and economics. So, we are sure, it will be like this in the future.

A group of journalists created Interfax as the first independent news agency in the Soviet Union that works according to international standards of information journalism.

Only the state had means of delivering operative information in late 1980-s and Interfax started to use telefaxes that were an innovation then. It was they who gave the name to the agency.

In January 1991, authorities made an attempt to shut down Interfax but thanks to the support of Boris Yeltsin the agency managed to resume its operations almost immediately.

Interfax received popularity in Western countries for covering the 1991 coup attempt, the so-called August Putsch, and many other events that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The agency‘s information let Russia and the world learn about the most important events in the post-Soviet space.

Interfax has remained today the most quoted Russian news agency in foreign countries. This proves Interfax‘s authority and trust in its information.