Category Archives: UK

Golden Dawn Immigrants-Fake NeoNazi’s

All those links were sent to me on Twitter and I am more than glad to post them,I do beleive I will find more on those people due time.No threats allowed according to the WP policy or the HR declaration. So please stay vigilant of what you are going to post :)I checked all blog categories so that the post can get the most views possible. Regards!

“##Spiros Macrozonaris## IMMIGRANT Golden Dawn Deputy leader in Montreal, Canada” :

Facebook profile :

INTERESTING FACEBOOK POST MR. MACROZONARIS, HE CANNOT EVEN WRITE GREEK! BAD NAZI BAD! :

His NON 100% PURE GREEK son’s Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/macrozonaris?ref=ts&fref=ts

1. Greek Immigrant who married a “foreigner” >>>>>French-Canadian Doris Morrissette, they bore a son, Nicolas Macrozonaris (World-Class Sprinter – CANADIAN Olympian 🙂 ..who unfortunately is not 100% Pure Greek…

2. Conversations with Nicolas on Twitter, lead to nothing, he is ‘pretending’ that he has NO knowledge of what Golden Dawn supports and believes YET he states that he does not condone his fathers “actions”

Twitter @Macrozonaris TWEETER CONVERSATIONS with Nicolas –>

###### MUST WATCH #####
Video from CBC Montreal, from week of Oct 12th – INTERVIEW with Spiros Macrozonaris – next to him sits LOOSER Ilias Hondronicolas : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-3rbLI4K78

#Ilias Hondronicolas ———> on PHOTO second guy from the left :

#MORE HONDRONICOLAS:

(FRIENDS WITH ELENI ZAROULIA SHARING HER PHOTOS!)
( MUST SEE )

#MORE PAPAGEORGIOU:


Mutant Avian flu: Expanding global vaccine production

 Allow me to add a personal note here .Right now I am writing I am recovering from the H5N1 flu,so is my family. It’s not a joy ride i can reassure you,i still feel my muscles stiff and my bones about to crack in pieces. BUT we took NO antibiotics,NO VACCINES- this is a is a must-not-do for my family-,nothing.  We had poor luck with all those “lethal” viruses so we got them all,Swine flu in 2009 and again the mutant swine flu last year[2011].WE didn’t die. Of course none of us belongs to the high risk groups. Yet we took a slight taste of pneumonia and other complications like otitis
I can not advise you if you belong to a high risk population group. But if you do not,just take some basic precautions and it will pass. We “survived” of five flu attacks with no harm done . You don’t need any killing Tamiflu or any vaccine that will make you more vulnerable to diseases
A friend of mine,a doctor,he said to me when i asked” you cannot predict a virus when it is bombed with antibiotics,the most possible to happen is to face new,mutant strains,resistant to known drugs”
And when i asked in return,why the Pharma industry doesn’t adapt their antibiotics to the new shown strains,he answered” if they did so,they would never claim a Pandemic“…
the rest is known..
21 June 2012

The H5N1 ‘bird flu’ virus could evolve to spread through the air between ferrets by picking up as few as five mutations, according to a long-awaited study from Ron Fouchier from the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands1. The paper is published today in Science after months of debate about whether the benefits of publishing the research outweighed the risks.

H5N1 can cause lethal infections in humans but it cannot spread effectively from person to person. Fouchier’s paper is the second of two publications describing how the virus could evolve this ability. The first, from Yoshihiro Kawaoka at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, involved a hybrid virus with genes from both H5N1 and the H1N1 strain behind the 2009 pandemic2 (see ‘Mutant-flu paper published‘). Fouchier’s mutant contains only H5N1 genes.

“Coming after the Kawaoka manuscript, I thought it might be anti-climactic, but it does not fail to deliver,” says Vincent Racaniello, a virologist at Columbia University in New York.

There is only one common mutation in the combinations that Fouchier and Kawaoka identified. “It just means that there are multiple ways to skin a cat,” says Robert Webster, a virologist at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

Despite their differences, both sets of mutations confer similar properties on H5N1. Some mutations allow the haemagglutinin (HA) protein on the virus’s surface to stick to the kind of receptors found in the human upper airway. Others stabilize the protein, an unexpected property that now seems to be important for transmission among mammals. “Two very different strategies led to common functional changes,” says Malik Peiris, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, who notes that these changes are “not uncommon in field strains already”.

Fouchier now wants to know whether these traits could make any flu virus go airborne, and whether previous pandemics started in this way. “The virus could evolve in a thousand different ways,” he says. “But if we can show that any receptor-binding mutations, or any that change the stability of HA, can yield airborne viruses, the story becomes completely different. We can then do surveillance for mutations that cause the same phenotype.”

Fouchier’s team began by adding three mutations to an H5N1 strain isolated from Indonesia in 2005. Two of these — Q222L and G224S — changed the HA gene such that its protein preferentially sticks to human-type receptors over those found in bird cells. The third — E627K — changed the PB2 gene, which is involved in copying the virus’ genetic material, so that the virus was able to replicate more easily in the cooler environment of mammalian cells.

The team allowed this mutant virus to evolve naturally by passing it from one ferret to the next, injecting it into the animals’ noses and collecting samples daily for four days. After ten rounds, the virus could spread between ferrets housed in separate cages.

These airborne strains spread less effectively than the 2009 H1N1 virus, and are sensitive to current antiviral treatments and potential vaccines. They are lethal if delivered directly to the ferrets’ airways in high doses, but not if the animals catch the infections naturally through the air.

Fouchier’s airborne viruses carried a diverse array of mutations, with just five mutations shared by them all, including the original three that Fouchier had inserted and two more in the HA gene: T156A, which affects receptor binding, and H103Y, which stabilizes the protein. The five mutations might be enough for H5N1 to spread between ferrets, but it may take nine or even more. “Until the changes are introduced in combinations into H5N1 virus, we won’t know the answer,” says Racaniello.

In a related paper published in Science3, Derek Smith from the University of Cambridge, UK, and his colleagues has shown that wild H5N1 viruses already have many of the mutations that Fouchier and Kawaoka identified. Some of the viruses are two to four nucleotide substitutions away from the complete sets. However, whether those mutations would allow different strains of H5N1 to spread between ferrets, let alone humans, remains unclear.

Fouchier now wants to work out the number of other individuals who catch the airborne virus for everyone who is infected. This number “needs to be higher than 1 to cause a pandemic”, he says. “We need more quantitative transmission models to start addressing that.”

But Racaniello thinks a different approach would be more effective. “I suggest that we spend research money developing more flu antivirals, and a universal flu vaccine,” he says[Source]

Will Tamiflu save the world from the avian flu?

No one wants to catch the flu! At the very least, it will put you out of commission for a week, and it can also cause  life-threatening infections – pneumonia is the most common, although other bacterial diseases like bronchitis are common too. Most people don’t think about problems with secondary infections after catching the flu, but a deadly form of the flu could be just around the corner.

The H5N1 “avian” flu is highly deadly among birds, and it has occurred in humans. Most people who contract the avian flu have had direct contact with infected birds. Fortunately, H5N1 does not appear to spread from human to human, but what if mutations occur in the virus that allow this to happen?

The 2009 H1N1 “swine” flu reminded us of the potential for flu pandemics that cross over to humans from other animals.

Based on its severity in birds and in the humans who have been infected, an H5N1 pandemic could be far more deadly than the H1N1 pandemic; it could kill a significant percentage of the world’s population! For example, in the 1918 flu pandemic, about 5% of the world’s population died. Based on the virulence of H5N1 in birds, it’s predicted that a higher percentage of humans would die as a result of a H5N1 human pandemic, although this is, of course, conjecture. In support of this conjecture, however, is the fact that 63% of the humans who have been infected with H5N1 have died (Hurt et al.).

antiviral compounds

Antiviral compounds

Fortunately Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) and a related drug, Relenza (Zanamivir), reduce the severity of the flu if they are given when the flu symptoms initially appear. But will the drugs be effective forever?

Seventy years ago, antibiotics such as penicillin seemed like miracle drugs. But now bacteria are evolving to become resistant to antibiotics, in part because the antibiotics have been overprescribed. Could the same thing occur with antivirals as they become used more frequently? It is a possibility.

Mutations, changes in the genetic code of an organism, occur rapidly in the influenza virus. Most mutations are harmful to the virus, but a few are beneficial (and, therefore, potentially harmful to humans). A mutation could occur in an influenza virus that allows it to resist the effects of Tamiflu and Relenza. Such a virus would then grow much more rapidly than a nonresistant form in the presence of the drugs.

To understand how Tamilflu and Relenza function and how the virus might become resistant to them, we need a little background on the life cycle of the flu virus. When an unsuspecting victim inhales a flu virus, a protein on the surface of the virus called hemagglutinin (the ‘H’ in H1N1, for example) binds to a receptor called sialic acid on the surface of cells in the respiratory tract (see structure of sialic acid in picture above).

Influenza life cycle

Influenza life cycle

The cell takes in the virus, which then replicates inside the host cell. The newly formed viruses leave the cell by budding off the surface. The hemagglutinin on the new viruses can then bind to the sialic acid on the surface of other host cells, thus infecting new cells. For this to occur, however, the viruses need to escape the host cells. Another viral surface protein, neuraminidase (the ‘N’ in H1N1, for example), breaks down the sialic acid receptors so the viruses can escape.

Tamiflu and Relenza are structurally similar to sialic acid and will bind to the neuraminidase, but they cannot be broken down. Therefore, neuraminidase cannot bind to sialic acid on the cell surface when it has Tamiflu or Relenza bound to it. Because they prevent neuraminidase from functioning, the two drugs are collectively referred to as neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs). When NAIs are present, some of the newly produced virus will get stuck to the original host cell and will not be able to infect other cells.  Some viruses will still escape, so NAIs don’t cure the flu but rather reduce its severity.

Are NAI-resistant viral mutants forming? Studies have identified a few flu viruses that are resistant to these drugs. A very dedicated (and patient) group of scientists (Monto et al.) grew up a whopping 2287 samples of flu virus that were collected from all over the world during the first three years (1999-2002) the drugs were prescribed. They grew these samples in the presence of each of the two NAIs. While the vast majority of the viruses were not resistant to the drugs, a few samples were. Resistance was determined by measuring the concentration of the drug needed to inactivate each virus. These results were concerning; however, another team of scientists (Yen et al.) studied two NAI-resistant flu mutants and found that they were not as contagious nor as fit as the non-resistant strains.

Ferrets

Ferrets used in nasal washes

Yen et al. (2005) also showed that the virus didn’t grow as well in vitro, and they measured how well the virus grew in an in vivo model. In those studies, three ferrets were infected with the virus: two with the mutant strains and one with a wild type (not mutated) virus.

After two days, each ferret was put into close contact with two other ferrets. Each day after exposure, the researchers took nasal washes of each ferret and quantified the amount of virus in the wash. (I wonder if there is a neti pot for ferrets.)

Neti Pot

Net pot for sinus infection

The washes showed that less virus was produced by the two resistant mutants. In fact, one of the ferrets exposed to a mutant virus was less contagious. Other studies have found this to be the case with the most resistant flu virus mutants. That is, the more resistant the flu virus is to an NAI, the less virulent is the virus.

However, exceptions were found in a further study by Yen et al. in 2006, where they found two mutants that were resistant to the drugs but still grew relatively well, which is more concerning. While these mutants did not appear naturally (they were designed by the lab) they could, in principle, occur in nature.

None of these studies looked at the H5N1 avian flu directly, but because the drug-resistant viruses were found over a wide variety of strains, there is potential for an H5N1 mutant that is resistant to Tamiflu and Relenza. Fortunately the drug-resistant mutants are usually less fit, so an H5N1 NAI-resistant mutant might not be as deadly. It appears that Tamiflu and Relenza would help reduce the impact of an H5N1 pandemic. However, we must monitor the virus for resistant mutants.

References:

Silver, G. (2003) The treatment of influenza with antiviral drugs. Canadian Medical Association Journal 168 (1), 49–57.

Monto, A., McKimm-Breschkin, J., Macken, C., Hampson, A., Hay, A., Klimov, A., Tashiro, M., Webster, R., Aymard, M., Hayden, F., & Zambon, M. (2006). Detection of Influenza Viruses Resistant to Neuraminidase Inhibitors in Global Surveillance during the First 3 Years of Their Use Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 50 (7), 2395-2402 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.01339-05

Yen, H., Herlocher, L., Hoffmann, E., Matrosovich, M., Monto, A., Webster, R., & Govorkova, E. (2005). Neuraminidase Inhibitor-Resistant Influenza Viruses May Differ Substantially in Fitness and Transmissibility Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 49 (10), 4075-4084 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.49.10.4075-4084.2005

Hurt, A., Holien, J., & Barr, I. (2009). In Vitro Generation of Neuraminidase Inhibitor Resistance in A(H5N1) Influenza Viruses Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 53 (10), 4433-4440 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.00334-09

Yen, H., Hoffmann, E., Taylor, G., Scholtissek, C., Monto, A., Webster, R., & Govorkova, E. (2006). Importance of Neuraminidase Active-Site Residues to the Neuraminidase Inhibitor Resistance of Influenza Viruses Journal of Virology, 80 (17), 8787-8795 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00477-06

Bioweapons, Dangerous Vaccines,
And Threats Of A Global Pandemic

By Stephen Lendman
7-7-9

Bioweapons, Dangerous Vaccines,
And Threats Of A Global Pandemic
By Stephen Lendman
7-7-9

Although international law prohibits the use of chemical and bacteriological weapons, America has had an active biological warfare program since at least the 1940s. In 1941, it began secret developmental efforts using controversial testing methods. During WW II, mustard gas was tested on about 4000 servicemen. Biological weapons research was also conducted. Human subjects were used as guinea pigs in various other experiments, and numerous illegal practices continued to the present, including secretly releasing toxic biological agents in US cities to test the effects of germ warfare.

The Hague Convention of 1907 banned chemical weapons usage, and the 1928 Geneval Protocol prohibited gas and bacteriological warfare. The 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) “Prohibit(ed) the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and Their Destruction.” The 1989 Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act “implement(ed the) Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and Their Destruction….”

In 2001, the Bush administration rejected the 1972 BWC, took advantage of a loophole allowing “prophylactic, protective or other peaceful uses,” continued a secret Clinton administration bioweapons initiative, and asserted its right to spend multi-billions illegally to develop, test and stockpile “first-strike” chemical and biological weapons that potentially can kill millions.

In his August 14, 2008 article titled, “The Pentagon’s alarming project: Avian Flu Biowar Vaccine,” F. William Engdahl cited:

“alarming evidence accumulated by serious scientific sources that the US Government is about to or already has ‘weaponized’ Avian Flu. If reports are accurate, this could unleash a new pandemic on the planet that could be more devastating than the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic which killed an estimated 30 million people worldwide before it eventually died out. Pentagon and NIH experiments with remains in frozen state of the 1918 virus are the height of scientific folly” unless something more nefarious is afoot in collaboration with Big Pharma to produce weaponized viruses and/or dangerous mandatory vaccines that, at the least, can cause serious autoimmune diseases or, as some allege, a Swine Flu or other viral pandemic.

Alarming News about Baxter International

On February 27, 2009, various news agencies including Helen Branswell in the Canadian Press, reported:

Baxter International that “released contaminated flu virus material from a plant in Austria confirmed (today) that the experimental product contained live H5N1 avian flu viruses.” The WHO said the incident occurred at the company’s research facility in Orth-Donau, Austria, but claimed “that public health and occupational risk is minimal” thus far. What’s not known, however, “are the circumstances” behind the incident that, according to some, raise suspicions while others call it a willful criminal act. More on that below.

The contaminated product, “a mix of H3N2 seasonal flu viruses and unlabelled H5N1 (Avian Flu) viruses, was supplied to an Austrian research company….Avir Green Hills Biotechnology.” It then “sent portions of it to sub-contractors in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Germany.”

The problem was discovered when The Czech Republic company discovered that ferrets innoculated with the product died. “Ferrets shouldn’t die from exposure to human H3N2 flu viruses.” Public health authorities called it a “serious error” that showed “the H5N1 virus in the product was live.” But Baxter “has been parsimonious about the amount of information it has released about the event.” Christopher Bona, the company’s global bioscience communications director, did confirm that the material was a “live….experimental virus” made at the Orth-Donau research laboratory.

Security experts expressed alarm that something this serious could happen, calling the co-mingling (or reassortment) of human H3N2 with H5N1 avian viruses a dangerous practice that should never occur because of the potentially devastating effects to human health. “If someone exposed to a mixture of the two had been simultaneously infected with both strains, he or she could have served as an incubator for a hybrid virus able to transmit easily to and among people,” who, in turn, could transmit it to enough others to potentially cause a pandemic. So far, nothing this extreme has happened, but a future threat remains.

As Medical Director of the Natural Solutions Foundation, Dr. Rima Laibow warns about dangerous, toxic drugs and vaccines. On March 6, 2009, she posted a “Pandemic Flu Emergency Action eAlert on her healthfreedomusa.org web site stating:

“World media (outside America) are reporting that Baxter Pharmaceuticals has admitted that it ‘accidently’ contaminated various vaccine batches with Avian Flu viruses. These batches were shipped to 18 countries. Clearly, either 1. stupidity and incompetence (are to blame) or 2. intentional contamination of flu vaccine lots was at work.”

Many Avian Flu vaccines compete with each other, yet they’re “profitable ONLY if used in huge numbers.” Although “Avian Flu has been slow to be become pandemic by ‘jumping the species barrier’ to humans in large numbers,” might Baxter’s “accident” be a way to do it? If so, Big Pharma will score “One of the biggest wins in history.”

In fact, it already has after the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP) reported that Congress (in mid-June) “approved $7.65 billion for battling pandemic influenza, more than three times what the House and Senate had earlier proposed.” Unsurprisingly, it was part of “a $106 billion (Iraq and Afghanistan war) supplemental appropriation bill” to open a new front at home in the form of dangerous vaccines – perhaps to be mandated for everyone.

Laibow sees a “manipulated disaster of unprecedented magnitude precipitated by unprecedented avarice and greed,” and adds that “Baxter International Inc. is no stranger to recalls and lethal contaminations.” Its record includes producing faulty infusion and volumetric pumps, HIV-2 tainted Albumin Buminate 5 percent, faulty dialysis machine tubing and blood-cleaning filters, and various other products that should make everyone leery of its soon-to-be-released Swine Flu vaccine. Along with similar ones from other pharmaceutical companies, these drugs cause serious autoimmune diseases and absolutely should be avoided, even if mandated.

Laibow expresses great alarm in stating:

“Baxter mixed a virus which has a hard time infecting people (H5N1 Avian flu) with one that infects them easily (“Seasonal Flu”) in a medium which can promote mutations of the H5N1 virus into a type which can infect us easily. What will be in the vaccine you are forced/coerced/threatened into allowing into your body? Who knows?”

What is known are our constitutional and Nuremberg Code rights. The Fifth Amendment protects against abusive government authority in stating that “No person shall….be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law….” The Eight Amendment prohibits “cruel and unusual punishments.” Depriving someone of health is tantamount to the latter as well as life by harming and potentially shortening it.

The Nuremberg Code requires voluntary consent of human subjects without coercion, fraud, deceit, and with full disclosure of known risks. It also affirms that experiments should avoid “all unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury,” and should never be conducted if there’s “an a priori reason to believe death or disabling injury will occur” or harm to human health.

The FDA as an Industry Front Group

As stated on its web site, the FDA is mandated to protect human health and well-being.

As an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), “The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation.”

Run by officials of the industries it “regulates,” it fails on all counts. Byron J. Richards is a clinical nutritionist and founder of Wellness Resources. In his book “Fight for Your Health: Exposing the FDA’s Betrayal of America,” he discusses FDA complicity with Big Pharma, dangerous drugs worth billions of dollars to the industry, and the serious risks to people who use them. He states:

“The FDA has put into mothballs its federal mandate to protect the public. In order to foster drug sales, the FDA hides important medical data from the public and from doctors, including the risks of heart attacks, suicide, seizures, and serious mental-health debility. Even worse, the FDA has changed sides. They are actively undermining the rights of citizens to claim damages if injured by drugs. And they are seeking to remove safety barriers to drug testing. They are planning to expose many individuals to unproven drugs, a new form of human experiment” that may rise to a higher level if HHS mandates dangerous Swine Flu vaccines for all Americans despite no forensic evidence of an outbreak or even a single proved death attributable to H1N1.

Yet, in advance of what looks to be coming, on June 11, the WHO declared that “The world is now at the start of the 2009 influenza pandemic (in) decid(ing) to raise (its) influenza pandemic alert from phase 5 to (its highest) phase 6” level.

Dr. Laibow advises that everyone has a “right to say “NO!” to vaccinations and other treatments that (they) do not want. The Police Power of the State ENDS at my skin and yours!” If a pandemic erupts, as a longtime natural health practitioner, she advises what she’ll use herself – Nano Silver as well as vitamins, minerals, and herbs like echinacea that boost the immune system, unlike dangerous vaccines that destroy it. For more information, she directs individuals to the web site: <http://www.nutronix.com/naturalsolutions>www.nutronix.com/naturalsolutions.

WHO, CDC, and Canada’s Public Health Agency (PHAC) Fearmongering Misinformation

Besides declaring its highest Level 6 influenza pandemic alert on June 11, the BBC reported on July 3 that WHO’s Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, warned that the spread of swine flu is “unstoppable” while admitting that most cases are mild and many people recover unaided.

On June 25, Daniel DeNoon in WebMD Health News reported that CDC’s influenza surveillance chief, Dr. Lyn Finelli, said: “Right now, we are estimating over 1 million (Swine Flu) cases in the US” in 2009 affecting about 6% of households in major cities. She, too, admitted that the vast majority of cases have been mild but avoided the fundamental issue – that no forensic evidence attributes a single death globally to Swine Flu and all or most known instances may be ordinary viral influenza or common colds, bad enough to cause fever (at times high) and discomfort, last several days and then pass for most people.

With no proof, Finelli cited 3065 Swine Flu hospitalizations and 127 deaths. In a June 26 telebriefing, Dr. Anne Schachat, CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases director, cited no verifiable forensic documentation in saying:

“The novel H1N1 (Swine Flu) influenza is continuing to spread here in the United States and around the globe. The key point is that this new infectious disease is not going away. In the US, we’re still experiencing a steady increase in the number of reported cases (and they’re just) the tip of the iceberg.” She added that vaccines are being hurriedly produced. No decisions have been made about “which populations” will need them, but “it’s very important for states and communities to begin intensifying their efforts on planning to administer a vaccine should such be necessary in the fall,” especially for “young people including school children, pregnant women, babies, and adults, particularly younger adults with those underlying conditions….” That said, it “doesn’t mean we’ve finalized any vaccine recommendations.”

On June 21, Canada’s National Post published Sharon Kirkey’s Canwest News Service report headlined, “Vaccinate Canadians under 40 and (aboriginal) natives first: experts.” She added that “Under Canada’s official pandemic plan, the entire population would ultimately be immunized against H1N1 swine flu,” but not at once as vaccines will only be available in batches.

Canada’s Public Health Agency (PHAC) “is working on a priority list,” effective for all provinces and territories. Gymnasiums will be used for mass vaccinations of school children, but no final decisions have been made.

In a June 26 news release, PHAC reported that “The Government of Canada today launched a three-year public education campaign to encourage parents to have their children immunized against certain diseases before the age of two. The Honorable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, made the announcement at the annual meeting of the Canadian Paediatric Society” saying that “Immunization is one of the best tools we have to protect the health of our children.”

In fact, all vaccines are dangerous and should be avoided. They contain squalene-based adjuvants that cause a menu of autoimmune diseases in test subjects. In humans they include chronic fatigue, various type rashes, chronic headaches, anemia, aphthous ulcers, seizures, weakness, neuropsychiatric problems, ALS, Raynaud’s phenomenon, and multiple sclerosis, among other illnesses and diseases, some causing death.

It’s why Dr. Laibow says “No insurance company in the world will insure against” their risks. In America, a special fund “has paid out over 2 billion dollars to parents of children killed or maimed by vaccinations.” However, the vast majority of those harmed are never compensated, and US law ‘immunizes’ drug companies from lawsuits.

Laibow adds:

“In fact, vaccines are explicitly acknowledged NOT to protect against diseases they supposedly are designed to prevent (read the Package Inserts for vaccines, available on line and in your doctors’ offices if you doubt that) and often” cause them.

Yet they continue in use because they’re so “immensely, enormously and hideously profitable,” and Big Pharma has enough clout to proliferate products that “in a rational society (should) be banned forever.”

Bioterrorism Criminal Charges Filed

On June 10, Austrian journalist Jane Burgermeister filed sweeping criminal charges with the FBI in addition to earlier ones on April 8 with the Vienna State Prosecutor’s Office against Baxter AG, Baxter International and Avir Green Hill Biotechnology AG, “for manufacturing, disseminating, and releasing a biological weapon of mass destruction on Austrian soil between December 2008 and February 2009 with the intention of causing a global bird flu pandemic virus and of intending to profit from that same pandemic in an act that violates laws on international organised crime and genocide.”

Baxter operates Biosafety Level 3 (BLS-3) labs that take strict precautions to assure no possibility of accidental H3N2 and H5N1 co-mingling contamination unless something more nefarious is afoot.

BLS-3 personnel are trained in handling pathogenic and potentially lethal agents and are supervised by competent scientists with extensive experience with them. In addition, these labs have specially engineered design features for added safety.

On its web site, CDC lists four biosafety levels:

— BLS-1 labs are “suitable for work involving well-characterized agents not known to consistently cause disease in healthy adult humans, and (pose) minimal potential hazard to laboratory personnel and the environment.”

— BLS-2 labs are “similar to Biosafety Level 1 and (are) suitable for work involving agents of moderate potential hazard to personnel and the environment. It differs from BLS-1 in that (lab personnel) have specific training in handling pathogenic agents,” and are “directed by competent scientists.” In addition, access to the labs are limited, and “extreme precautions are taken with contaminated sharp items….”

— BLS-3 labs work with “indigenous or exotic agents which may cause serious or potentially lethal disease as a result of exposure by the inhalation route. Laboratory personnel have specific training in handling pathogenic and potentially lethal agents, and are supervised by competent scientists who are experienced in working with these agents.” Labs also have “special engineering and design features,” and follow strict procedures. In addition, protective clothing, equipment, and other extreme precautions are taken.

— BLS-4 labs are for the most highly toxic and dangerous agents – ones “that pose a high individual risk of aerosol-transmitted laboratory infections and life-threatening disease.” As a result, the strictest possible procedures and precautions are always taken.

By combining human influenza H3N2 with bird flu H5N1 virus in its BLS-3 lab, “Baxter produced a highly dangerous biological weapon with a 63 per cent mortality rate. The H5N1 virus is restricted in its human-to-human transmissibility, especially because it is less airborne.”

“However when….combined with seasonal flu viruses (easily transmitted by air), a new flu virus is created which is unknown to the human immune system and which will have a severe impact on an unprotected population. A deadly virus of this kind could spread around the world in a short time and (potentially) infect millions and even billions of people.”

Baxter (via Avir) “distributed (72 kilos of) contaminated (live bird flu) vaccines using false concealment and a false labels to 16 laboratories in Austria and….other countries at the end of January/beginning of February, potentially infecting at least 36-37 laboratory staff, who (were) treated preventively for bird flu and ordinary flu.” On the same day, 18 Avir employees were as well at Vienna’s Otto Wagner Hospital.

Burgermeister cited a Baxter-Avir 2006 contract with Austria’s Health Ministry for 16 million vaccine doses in case a bird flu pandemic was declared. She maintains that this “laboratory incident shows that national and international authorities are not able to fulfill their obligations to ensure the safety of the Austrian people” and claims that authorities were engaged in a cover-up.

“If a pharmaceutical company can breach laws – and almost trigger a bird flu pandemic, which (potentially could spread worldwide) – without being made accountable for it….then there is, de facto, no rule of law on Austrian territory.”

She also contends that Baxter’s production system, “namely, the use of 1200 liter bioreactors and vero cell technology,” meets “the technical criteria to be classified as a secret dual purpose large-scale bioweapon production facility (able to produce) a huge amount of contaminated vaccine material….rapidly.”

“If (this) material were added to the 1200 liter bioreactors, it would replicate and infect the entire batch of vaccine material in (it). Contaminated material could (then) be distributed among sections of the population using false labels and secretly marked batches (able to) infect millions of people.”

Burgermeister accused high-level Austrian Health and other Ministry officials of knowledge and support of this practice. Otherwise, controls would have been in place to prevent it. In June, she named drug producers Baxter, Novartis and Sanofi Aventis, world agencies, including the WHO, UN, and CDC, and high-level officials in Austria, other European countries, and America.

Whether or not there’s enough evidence to substantiate her charges, her case is vital to alert people globally to the potential health threat they face because inadequate controls are in place if the worst occurs.

It highlights the importance of being alert to this and other potential health hazards given lax government regulations and public complicity with powerful corporate interests, that in alliance show a disturbing indifference to public safety and well-being – worse still because dominant print and broadcast media stoke fear by reporting misinformation to convince people to use dangerous drugs and vaccines they should avoid.

As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Better be safe than sorry. Something nefarious may or may not be afoot, but it’s vital to learn the truth, know the risks, and assert your legal right to refuse all dangerous vaccines and other medications, even if mandated.

Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre of Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday – Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national issues. All programs are archived for easy listing.

http://rense.com/general86/bio.htm


The Darkness of Blood Diamonds Fueling Civil Wars

Violence Diamonds are supposed to be symbols of love, commitment, and joyful new beginnings. But for many people in diamond-rich countries, these sparkling stones are more a curse than a blessing. Too often, the world’s diamond mines produce not only diamonds – but also civil wars, violence, human rights abuses, worker exploitation, environmental degradation, and unspeakable human suffering. Not long ago, the public started to become aware that large numbers of diamonds are mined in violent and inhumane settings. Consumers are now demanding, with ever greater urgency, that their diamonds be free from bloodshed and human rights abuses. So far, however, the diamond industry’s response has been woefully inadequate. Diamonds with violent histories are still being mined and allowed to enter the diamond supply, where they become indistinguishable from other gems. Violence, human rights abuses, and other injustices remain an everyday aspect of diamond mining. Fueling Civil Wars In just the past two decades, seven African countries have endured brutal civil conflicts fueled by diamonds: Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola, the Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Diamonds intensify civil wars by financing militaries and rebel militias. These groups also fight with each other to control diamond-rich territory. The tragic result is bloodshed, loss of life, and shocking human rights abuses – from rape to the use of child soldiers. Diamonds that fuel civil wars are often called “blood” or “conflict” diamonds. Although many diamond-fueled wars have now ended, conflict diamonds remain a serious problem. Civil conflicts in Côte d’Ivoire, the Central African Republic, and the DRC continue to this day. So far, the war in the DRC alone has cost more than 5 million lives. In addition, millions of people are dealing with the long-term consequences of these wars: friends and family members lost, lives shattered, and physical and emotional scars that will last generations. Human Rights Abuses Diamond mining is plagued by shocking violence and human rights abuses. Killings, beatings, rape, torture, child labor, forced labor, and other abuses all too frequently take place in connection with diamond mining. Often, these abuses happen in the midst of civil wars. But human rights violations are also a regular part of diamond mining in countries that are not officially at war. At Brilliant Earth, we believe it is important to break the link between diamonds and all forms of violence. The diamond industry’s attempt to stop violence tied to diamond mining resulted in the establishment of the Kimberley Process, an international diamond certification scheme, in 2003. Unfortunately, the Kimberley Process only places a ban on diamonds that finance rebel movements in war-torn countries. When diamond miners are killed, tortured, raped, or beaten by their own governments – or when children are forced to mine for diamonds – the Kimberley Process does not take action. Instead, it certifies these diamonds as “conflict free” and allows them to be shipped to consumers around the world. Zimbabwe Despite killings, torture, and other outrageous human rights violations in Zimbabwe’s diamond mining operations, the Kimberley Process certifies Zimbabwean diamonds for export and allows them to be sold in jewelry stores worldwide. Human rights abuses in Zimbabwe starkly illustrate how the Kimberley Process is failing to stop the bloodshed that so often accompanies diamond mining. The trigger for these abuses was the discovery of a massive diamond deposit in 2006. The Marange diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe potentially could produce $2 billion in rough diamonds per year – or over 10% of the global diamond supply. In 2008, the Zimbabwean army decided to seize the Marange diamond fields for itself. In a violent takeover, the army massacred more than 200 local diamond miners, at times shooting live ammunition from helicopters. Since then, the army has forced local adults and children to mine for diamonds on its behalf. Soldiers punish diamond miners who disobey with indiscriminate violence, including killings, beatings, rape, and torture. Profits from this shocking system of mining diamonds are being used to enrich military leaders and help keep President Robert Mugabe, a brutal dictator, in power. In mid 2009, the Kimberley Process finally ordered a review mission to Zimbabwe. The investigation confirmed that Zimbabwe was guilty of serious human rights violations. In response, the Kimberley Process temporarily banned Marange diamond exports. However, the Kimberley Process has since allowed exports to resume. Meanwhile, the army continues to force people to mine for diamonds and even run torture camps for uncooperative diamond miners. Côte d’Ivoire Diamonds are prolonging a bitter civil war in Côte d’Ivoire, also known as the Ivory Coast. Since 2004, the war has been mostly at a stalemate, with the north controlled by rebels and the south by government forces. To prevent diamonds from funding the conflict, the Kimberley Process and the United Nations placed a ban on the export of Côte d’Ivoire diamonds in 2005. Rebels, however, have not abided by the ban. The Kimberley Process has been urged to tighten controls, but has done very little. Every year, rebels smuggle about $20 million worth of diamonds into neighboring countries. Rebels exchange these diamonds for weapons and other supplies. Diamond mining is thus helping to strengthen the rebels and extend the conflict. In 2010, a disputed presidential election led to a constitutional crisis. Rebel soldiers swept southward in support of Alassane Ouattara, their preferred candidate and the rightful election winner. In the five months of fighting that followed, at least 3,000 people were killed and atrocities were committed by both government and rebel forces. These atrocities are still being investigated, but diamond-funded weapons likely contributed to the bloodshed. Angola A decade after the end of a brutal diamond-funded civil war, Angola is now a member of the Kimberley Process and the world’s fifth largest diamond exporter. But a flourishing diamond trade has not made Angola a more responsible diamond producer. Angola’s diamond fields are once again the scene of horrific violence. In recent years, diamond miners from the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been streaming into northeast Angola to mine for diamonds. Most miners cross the border illegally and do not have legal permission to mine. Angolan soldiers, as well as private security guards for mining corporations, have been brutally cracking down on these foreign miners. Thousands of miners and their families have been beaten, tortured, sexually abused, and even killed. Soldiers routinely demand bribes, beating and killing those miners who do not cooperate. In 2009, the Angolan army launched an operation that, over a seven month period, led to the violent expulsion of 115,000 Congolese miners. In 2011, a United Nations monitor documented 21,000 cases of serious human rights violations – including rape, beatings and torture – among miners who recently had been expelled. The monitor also found evidence that Angolan soldiers are systematically raping Congolese women and girls. Central African Republic A toxic mixture of diamonds, corruption, and ethnic tensions is tearing the Central African Republic apart. This small country in the middle of Africa now has two rebel groups using diamonds to finance their insurgent activities. Rebel groups have been violently seizing control of diamond mines and even fighting with each other to control diamond mining territory. In 2011, diamond-fueled violence flared up near the diamond mining town of Bria, in the eastern part of the country. Clashes between rebels led to the deaths of at least 50 people. It is now clear that diamonds from the Central African Republic are contributing to chronic instability. Nevertheless, the Kimberley Process continues to certify diamonds from the Central African Republic as conflict free. Democratic Republic of Congo Of all the conflicts in the world today, the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the deadliest by far. Since the late 1990s, rebel armies have been exploiting the country’s gem and mineral resources and funneling the profits toward insurgent activities. To date, more than 5 million people have died as a result of the war. Many more people have been raped, terrorized, and uprooted from their homes. Diamonds helped start this conflict, and they continue to fuel the violence. Partnership Africa Canada, a leading human rights organization, has documented how rebel soldiers are exploiting diamond-rich areas in eastern Congo. These diamonds are sustaining a civil war that, well into its second decade, is still tearing lives apart. Army abuses Zimbabweans to control diamond fields-HRW * Police and army use brutal force, rights group says * HRW says income funnelled to Mugabe party officials * Minister says reports of killings false By Tiisetso Motsoeneng JOHANNESBURG, June 26 (Reuters) – Zimbabwean police and army are using brutal methods to control diamond fields, forcing children and adults to work and beating local villagers, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Friday. In a report on Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond fields, it said the military, which remains under the control of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF under a power-sharing deal, killed more than 200 people in a takeover of the fields in late 2008. “The police and army have turned this peaceful area into a nightmare of lawlessness and horrific violence,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Zimbabwe’s new government should get the army out of the fields, put a stop to the abuse, and prosecute those responsible.” Mugabe’s unity government with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is under pressure to create a democracy and improve Zimbabwe’s human rights record to get billions of dollars from Western donors demanding political and economic reforms. The new administration says it needs $10 billion to rebuild a shattered economy and win the confidence of millions of Zimbabweans who have faced years of bare hospitals, potholed streets and staggering unemployment. But foreign investors and donors are likely to remain cautious for months, if not years, piling pressure on old foes Mugabe and Tsvangirai to work together and enact reforms, including greater government transparency. “Some income from the fields has been funnelled to high-level party members of ZANU-PF, which is now part of a power-sharing government that urgently needs revenue as the country faces a dire economic crisis,” the report said. Zimbabwe’s Deputy Mines and Mining Development Minister Murisi Zwizwai told a business seminar that reports of killings in Marange were false and “contrary to allegations, nobody was killed by security”. Industry experts say legal diamond output and sales account for less than 10 percent of Zimbabwe’s mining earnings, but have potential to join gold and platinum among country’s big earners if the government clamps down on smuggling. Foreign investors are looking anew at mining opportunities mineral-producing Zimbabwe, especially deposits of platinum, gold and diamonds. While some have ventured back, others are waiting for the legal framework to be strengthened. Human Rights Watch said it based its findings on more than 100 one-on-one interviews with witnesses, local miners, police officers, soldiers, local community leaders, victims and relatives, medical staff, human rights lawyers, and activists in Harare, Mutare, and Marange district in eastern Zimbabwe. “Those interviewed said that police officers, who were deployed in the fields from November 2006 to October 2008 to end illicit diamond smuggling, were in fact responsible for serious abuses — killings, torture, beatings, and harassment — often by so-called ‘reaction teams’, which drove out illegal miners,” it said. (Writing by Michael Georgy) REUTERS Blood Diamonds From Zimbabwe Human rights observers agree: diamonds from Zimbabwe are blood diamonds. Zimbabwean diamonds are tainted by human rights violations including torture, forced labor, child labor, sexual violence, and murder. They are also helping to keep a brutal dictator in power. Unfortunately, the discovery of a massive diamond deposit is about to make Zimbabwe the world’s leading diamond producer. Unless something is done, blood diamonds from Zimbabwe will soon flood the market. Sadly, the Kimberley Process (KP), the international diamond certification scheme created to halt the blood diamond trade, has failed to put a stop to Zimbabwe’s horrendous mining practices. The KP certifies Zimbabwean diamonds as “conflict free,” allowing human rights abuses to continue and giving its stamp of approval to torture, rape, and murder. As a result, consumers are at a greater risk than ever of buying a blood diamond. 1. Diamond fields in Zimbabwe could be the most valuable ever discovered. In 2006, villagers in the Marange district of eastern Zimbabwe discovered a massive diamond deposit. By some estimates, the Marange diamond fields could produce as much as 40 million carats a year—worth about $2 billion, or over 10% of the global diamond supply. The total value of Marange gems may be as high as $800 billion, making the Marange diamond fields the richest ever found. If predictions are correct, Zimbabwe will become the world’s leading diamond exporter within a few years. Zimbabwe’s astonishing diamond resources could help lift millions of people out of poverty and transform Zimbabwe’s economy. But in Zimbabwe’s case, such vast diamond wealth has led to human misery on an equally grand scale. 2. Zimbabwe’s diamonds are linked to grave human rights abuses including torture, forced labor, sexual violence, and murder. In 2008, the Zimbabwean army seized control of the Marange diamond fields, at times shooting live ammunition from helicopters. More than 200 local miners were massacred. After the takeover, the army began running mining operations itself. Local residents, including children, were forced to mine for diamonds in slave-like conditions. Killings, beatings, torture, and sexual violence were used by the army to keep local residents working and maintain a climate of fear. Despite widespread international attention, little has changed. The military has not withdrawn from the Marange diamond fields. Serious human rights abuses continue, including forced labor, torture, beatings, and harassment. In October 2011, the BBC confirmed that the Zimbabwean military runs secret camps where diamond miners who fail to hand over their earnings are tortured, beaten, and raped. 3. Zimbabwean diamonds are helping to sustain a brutal dictator. Top military officials and political allies of President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s despotic leader, are smuggling Marange diamonds out of the country and keeping the profits for themselves. Mugabe is depending on diamond revenues to fill the coffers of his political party, ZANU-PF, as national elections near. In power since 1980, Mugabe has used his office to torture, harass, and kill his political opponents. His wrongheaded policies have led to mass impoverishment, the outbreak of epidemics, and the death of thousands of people. In 2010, the United Nations rated Zimbabwe last on its index of human development. Mugabe is considered a target for prosecution for crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court. 4. The Kimberley Process certifies blood diamonds from Zimbabwe as “conflict free.” In November 2009, the KP placed a temporary ban on the export of Marange diamonds. Zimbabwe was asked to withdraw its army from the Marange diamond fields, end human rights abuses, and curb smuggling. Zimbabwe clearly has not complied with KP demands. To add further insult, in June 2010, Zimbabwean police raided the offices of an organization working directly with the KP to document human rights abuses in the Marange diamond fields. Farai Maguwu, the organization’s director, was arrested and jailed. He was later released, but only after his designation as a “prisoner of conscience” by Amnesty International. Despite Zimbabwe’s complete lack of compliance, the KP has bowed to political pressure. In November 2011, it lifted the ban on Marange diamonds. Zimbabwe is now permitted to export these blood diamonds with “conflict free” certification. As diamond industry veteran Martin Rapaport notes, “Instead of eliminating blood diamonds, the KP has become a process for the systematic legalization and legitimization of blood diamonds.” 5. Zimbabwean diamonds are about to flood jewelers’ inventories. The KP’s decision in 2011 opens the floodgates to blood diamonds from Zimbabwe. Since 2006, Zimbabwe has stockpiled an estimated $1.7 billion in Marange diamonds. These diamonds are now being released into the international diamond supply. In future years, as production ramps up, more blood diamonds worth billions of dollars will be entering the diamond supply chain. Safeguards to prevent U.S. consumers from purchasing blood diamonds remain inadequate. A study of jewelry retailers found that 56% of jewelers do not even have an auditing procedure in place to prevent the retail of conflict diamonds. Those jewelers claiming to sell “conflict free” diamonds almost always rely on the faulty KP certification. In fact, KP certification provides no protection against the purchase of a blood diamond from Zimbabwe. Financial Overhaul Bill Takes Aim at Dirty Gold The financial regulatory bill signed into law by President Obama last month primarily aims to overhaul the guidelines that govern Wall Street. While we will leave it to the political pundits and the economists to provide commentary on the bill’s implications for the U.S. financial system, we would like to highlight a little-noted provision in the bill that affects the market for luxury jewelry. Hidden away in a section entitled “Miscellaneous Provisions” is a measure requiring large, publicly-traded companies to report to the federal government whether certain “conflict minerals” in their products come from the Democratic Republic of Congo or the surrounding region. Since 1998, a civil war in Congo has claimed more than 5 million lives, making it one of the deadliest wars in history. As we wrote in our blog last December, the conflict has been fueled, in large part, by contestation over mineral resources. The goal of the provision is to create a degree of transparency and accountability surrounding minerals in these regions. The provision in the financial bill targets several minerals—including tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold—that are mined in Congo and that have been contributing to the bloodshed. Many of these minerals are typical components of products such as laptops and cell phones. Gold, of course, is a major component of jewelry. However, most major jewelry retailers in the United States are presently unable to say with any certainty whether the gold in their jewelry comes from Congo. We attribute this untenable situation to indifference and lack of initiative, as well as to the difficulties inherent in tracing a fungible metal like gold back to the source. At Brilliant Earth, we use only recycled gold and fair trade gold in our jewelry, allowing us to be certain that none of our gold originates in Congo and that it meets the highest of ethical standards. We, at Brilliant Earth, hope this bill will use government leverage to speed up the process of creating a more transparent and accountable gold supply chain. Although the bill does not ban the sale of gold from Congo, it should give consumers and jewelry retailers the information they need to avoid buying and selling such gold. Potentially just as important, the bill may spur reforms that will make all gold, not just gold from Congo, more easily traceable. In many places, although gold is not contributing to civil wars, it is not being mined in a way that is ethical or environmentally responsible. Jewelry buyers deserve to know where their gold comes from and the conditions under which it is mined so that they can make informed decisions. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has until April 17, 2011 to promulgate regulations that will clarify the meaning of the bill’s measures against Congo gold. Much of the effectiveness of the law will depend on the regulations that the SEC adopts. As the law is implemented, Brilliant Earth will continue to fight for increased transparency in the gold supply chain and to support efforts to develop responsible sources of gold. READ MORE AT:http://www.brilliantearth.com/confict-diamond-trade/


True Oil Wars

Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07BAGHDAD2453 2007-07-25 05:57 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Baghdad

VZCZCXRO1627
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #2453/01 2060557
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 250557Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
INFO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2415

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002453

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/23/2017
TAGS: ECON ENRG IZ PREL
SUBJECT: CODEL BURGESS MEETING WITH MINISTER OF OIL HUSAYN
AL-SHAHRISTANI

Classified By: ECONOMIC MINISTER CHARLES P. RIES FOR REASONS 1.5 (b) an
d (d)

¶1. (C). SUMMARY. On July 22, Congressmen Michael Burgess
(R-TX), Steve King (R-IA), Jim Jordan (R-OH), John Carter
(R-TX), Kevin Brady (R-TX), and David Davis (R-TN) met with
Minister of Oil Husayn al-Shahristani to discuss issues
related to the state of Iraq,s petroleum infrastructure,
plans to improve the infrastructure and revitalize petroleum
exploration and production. Minister Shahristani
acknowledged the important role of the petroleum industry in
Iraq,s economy and the need for passage of the
hydrocarbon-related laws as signaling Iraq,s emergence as a
dominant petroleum producing country. END SUMMARY.

¶2. (C). Minister Shahristani introduced the topic of the
status of Iraq,s petroleum industry by observing that the
industry provides 93% of the country,s budget; that of the
500 known potential petroleum-bearing geophysical structures,
only about 80 have been evaluated and expected to make up the
majority of the 115 billion barrel reserve; and that of these
80 structures, 10 are “super giants,” 10 are “giants,” and 10
are “very large” structures. He also stated that most of
these 80 structures are currently in production although
perhaps not being optimally produced at this time.
Shahristani also predicted that of the 500 known structures,
300 will eventually produce commercial quantities of oil.

¶3. (C). Shahristani observed that even though private oil
companies have not been willing to work in Iraq as a result
of the security situation, the state-owned oil companies have
been able to drill some new wells. He also noted that while
the level of oil production in the country has not risen as
he desired, the rising price oil has allowed Iraq to more or
less maintain a level income from exports.

¶4. (C). Shahristani noted successes in having new meters
installed in the southern export facilities, but also noted
that if problems occur, it is likely the fault of the
American company that required an extra year to complete the
project. He predicted no interruption in oil exports from
the southern facilities, unless problems arise between Iran
and the United States. He encouraged the United States and
Iran to continue their dialogue to solve issues that impact
Iraq.

¶5. (C). A member of the Congressional delegation, having
toured the Bayji oil refinery yesterday asked what
infrastructure improvements were needed to increase the
refinery,s production potential. Shahristani stated that
while foreign companies were not willing to work in Iraq due
to the current security situation, he has asked that they
supply needed equipment, for example for the hydrocracker.
He also stated that he is attempting to replace trained
workers, originally from the south of the country, who have
fled the sectarian violence of the area.

¶6. (C). When asked about the Ministry of Oil,s budget,
Shahristani stated that he had a budget of $2.2 billion. He
complained that the Ministry of Finance had delayed the
allocation of funds for the first quarter of the year and
those funds were not available until the end of March. In
any event, he noted that by the second quarter, he had been
able to spend 25% of his budget and expects to spend 85% of
his budget by the end of the year.

¶7. (C). Shahristani explained that the Council of Ministers
had approved and sent to the Council of Representatives a law
that would encourage investment in Iraq,s oil refineries; he
expected a third reading of this law to occur soon. He
expressed support for the Framework Hydrocarbon Law stating
that “all the right elements were present in the law” and
promised that he would be in the Council of Representatives
(CoR) to explain the law. He also stated that while he could
not predict what the lawmakers would do, he anticipated its
eventual passage. He noted that he had already prepared a
list of those fields to be drilled and produced first.

¶8. (C). A member of the delegation asked about Chinese
exploration and production contracts. Shahristani answered
by explaining that there was one contract in existence with
the Chinese, which was legitimate and was signed by the
previous regime to develop a small field just south of
Baghdad (Adhab) and would produce no more than 100,000
barrels per day of heavy crude. He explained that under the
current draft of the framework Hydrocarbon law, such
contracts must be reviewed and meet the conditions of the new
law. He also stated that this contract would have to be
amended and that the production from this field was not for
export, but rather to supply crude oil to a refinery planned
to be constructed in the area by the Chinese.

BAGHDAD 00002453 002 OF 002

¶9. (C). A member of the delegation asked if the Iraqi
people understood that they could become rich from the
development of their petroleum resources, if only they would
cooperate with each other. Shahristani responded that the
people will not understand the details of the various
hydrocarbon-related laws, but will follow the impressions
created by others and the media. He proceeded to explain
that several local media stations are supported by members of
Saddam,s regime, living mostly in Jordan now, and by the
Saudis and Emirates. He characterized as more damaging, the
influence of Al-Jazeera. He stated that, in his opinion,
Saudi Arabia feels threatened by the prospect of a
significant Iraqi contribution to the international oil
market; Iraq was not a threat to the Saudis as long as
exports remained no greater than 2 to 3 million barrels.

¶10. (C). When asked about exports in the north, Shahristani
noted that the exports brought in about $400,000 per day and
that the Bayji refinery has limited production capacity.
(Note: In the absence of more explanation that was not
provided to the delegation, this statement appears at odds
with the fact that the export pipeline to Turkey operates
only intermittently. Also, the Bayji refinery capacity is
limited primarily by unreliable electricity supply and
limited heavy fuel oil storage capability. End Note.)
Shahristani also noted that northern exports were at the
mercy of the security situation. He stated that the
Strategic Infrastructure Brigades (SIBs) were established by
a “leader of the insurgency” and that he informed the
multi-national forces of this fact. He also stated that
contrary to the opinion of the multi-national force
commanders, the SIBs cannot be retrained to an effective
status. Shahristani stated his expectation that a new effort
to contract with local tribal leaders for security of the
pipelines will be more effective and lead to a resumption of
northern exports in one to two months.

¶11. (C). Addressing Congressional benchmarks, Shahristani
said that he expected the Framework Hydrocarbon and Revenue
Management Laws to proceed in tandem to the CoR and will be
debated together. He assessed that the refinery investment
law, already in the CoR, will be passed soon. He stated that
the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) has reservations about
the Revenue Management Law, but that KRG representatives will
be in Baghdad in a week, and that he expected the law will go
to the CoR within the next 2 to 3 weeks. He also stated
that, while no one has objection to the Revenue Management
Law in principle, Sunni factions were attacking it for
political reasons. Shahristani stated that there was also
strong Sunni opposition to the Framework Hydrocarbon Law, but
that he agreed with Ambassador Crocker that some Sunni
support for the law was needed.

¶12. (C). Shahristani was asked what he was doing to secure
the petroleum infrastructure in the event coalition forces
left Iraq. He responded that a withdrawal would not impact
the southern pipelines and other facilities since Coalition
Forces are not now protecting those facilities. As for the
northern facilities, he stated that the Bayji refinery could
be shut down, but that would have consequences equally
adverse for the insurgency.

¶13. (C). Shahristani reiterated that he was working hard to
meet the benchmarks, that half of the benchmarks were met and
that the other half could be met if government,s efforts
were supported by the Sunnis, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf
states. He requested that the USG pressure these other
entities to stop supporting the groups opposing Iraq,s
efforts to meet the remaining benchmarks.

¶14. (C). Minister Shahristani concluded the meeting with an
expression of determination that Iraq will export to the
world oil market “its fair share of resources.” He stated
that he wanted the American public to know that this conflict
was not about oil, but about Islamic fundamentalism. He also
stated that Al-Qaeda was a long-term problem for the world.

¶15. (C). CODEL Burgess did not have an opportunity to clear
this cable.

Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07BAGHDAD3071 2007-09-12 06:02 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Baghdad

VZCZCXRO4961
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #3071/01 2550602
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 120602Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3336
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003071

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EPET EINV ENRG IZ
SUBJECT: HUNT OIL SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH KRG UNDER KRG OIL LAW

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET DISRIBUTION. PROTECT
SOURCES.

This is a Kurdistan Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) cable.

SUMMARY
——-

¶1. (SBU) The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) recently signed a
production sharing contract (PSC) with Hunt Oil Company that covers
oil exploration and production in “the Dohuk area.” Comments by
Hunt officials indicate that the block is actually in the Ninewa
Governorate’s northern administrative districts. The PSC marks the
first oil deal signed by the KRG, following enactment of the
Kurdistan Region’s hydrocarbons law on August 6, 2007. Considerable
legal ambiguity surrounds the PSC with Hunt Oil, as the districts in
northern Ninewa to be explored by the company are classified as
“disputed territories” under the Iraqi constitution. A senior Hunt
Oil manager told RRT Erbil’s Team Leader that northern Ninewa
province has significant potential for oil production, and that this
factor trumps the legal ambiguities and risks associated with the
company’s PSC with the KRG. The oil potential of northern Iraq
continues to attract significant investor interest. Several other
international energy companies are expected to announce oil deals
with the KRG during coming weeks. Despite the KRG’s aggressive
pursuit of foreign direct investment to develop the Kurdistan
Region’s hydrocarbons production potential, KRG Prime Minister
Nechirvan reiterated the KRG’s commitment to the federal hydrocarbon
revenue sharing agreement that allocates Iraq’s oil wealth to all
Iraqis on a per capita basis. Meanwhile, senior central government
officials expressed their dismay that the KRG enacted a regional
hydrocarbons law, and that the KRG continues to pursue oil
investment from foreign companies in advance of enactment of
comprehensive national hydrocarbons legislation. [NOTE: The ability
of regional governments to sign contracts has been among the key
issues of contention during negotiation of the national hydrocarbon
law. The KRG has reluctantly agreed, at times. to refrain from
finalizing agreements in advance of a national law, but have
maintained that they would not wait indefinitely for national
legislation to be approved by the Council of Representatives. END
NOTE.]

KRG Contract with Hunt in Disputed Territory
——————————————–

¶2. (SBU) On September 8, 2007, the KRG, Hunt Oil Company, and
Impulse Energy Corporation (IEC) jointly announced they had signed a
PSC covering petroleum exploration activities “in the Dohuk area of
the Kurdistan Region.” Hunt Oil’s General Manager for Europe,
Africa and the Middle East, David McDonald, told RRT Erbil’s Team
Leader on September 5 that the envisioned “Dohuk area” of operations
under the PSC consists of the administrative districts of northern
Ninewa province. McDonald did not disclose the exact areas in
northern Ninewa to be initially targeted for exploration by Hunt Oil
but he mentioned Shekkan and Akra as areas they had visited. While
the land to be explored by Hunt Oil has been behind the Green Line
of KRG control for many years and is occupied by a majority Kurdish
population who considers itself part of Dohuk Governorate, the area
falls within the legal boundaries of Ninewa province. Northern
Ninewa is “disputed territory,” according to the Iraqi federal
constitution, and the legal boundaries of the area are eventually to
be decided by a public referendum pursuant to Article 140 of the
federal constitution.

¶3. (SBU) During discussions with RRT Erbil’s Team Leader, McDonald
seemed less than fully informed about the potential ramifications of
Article 140 on Hunt Oil’s negotiations with the KRG. He did not
express concern about the potential controversy surrounding
signature of a PSC with the KRG that covers areas of operation
currently outside the KRG’s legal control. He said, “This is a
significant opportunity that outweighs the legal ambiguity.” Hunt
Oil CEO Ray Hunt also discounted the fact that the northern Ninewa
districts targeted under the PSC are not yet within the KRG’s
legally defined borders. He expressed satisfaction on September 8
that his company was “actively participating in the establishment of
the petroleum industry in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.”

¶4. (U) Enactment of the KRG’s new oil law may have spurred
completion of the PSC with Hunt Oil. The PSC was announced shortly
after publication of the English translation of the new oil and gas
law on the KRG’s website. Before the law was enacted, only one PSC
had been signed for the Dohuk area – with DNO of Norway. That PSC
covered operations only within the legal boundaries of Dohuk
Governorate. Enactment of the KRG oil law and the subsequent
announcement of the deal with Hunt Oil may accelerate the signing of
PSCs with other international oil companies. Several are
reportedly on the verge of signing PSCs with the KRG during coming
weeks. Article 19 of the KRG law states that “the Federal
Government must not practice any new Petroleum Operations in the
disputed territories without the approval of [the KRG] until such
time as the referendum required by Article 140 of the Federal
Constitution is conducted.” Article 20, however, allows the KRG to

BAGHDAD 00003071 002 OF 003

sign PSCs with foreign oil companies in disputed territories, based
on articles 112, 115 and 121(3) of the Federal Constitution.

Potential Bonanza Trumps Legal Ambiguity
—————————————-

¶5. (SBU) While McDonald said Hunt Oil must conduct further
assessments about the speed and scope of their operational
activities in northern Ninewa, with decisions regarding the focus of
initial seismic tests to begin “by the end of October,” he was
optimistic about the oil potential of the region. McDonald said
portions of the topography in all three districts of northern Ninewa
bode well for oil exploration. He said, “It’s like shooting fish in
a barrel.” A Hunt Oil company spokesman in Dallas said the company
will begin geological survey and seismic work by the end of 2007,
with plans to be in a position to drill an exploration well in
¶2008.

KRG Boldly Enacts Regional Hydrocarbons Law…
———————————————

¶6. (U) The KRG deal with Hunt Oil marks the first PSC signed with a
foreign oil company following KRG enactment of the Oil and Gas Law
of the Kurdistan Region on August 6, 2007. Speaking of the KRG’s
rationale in passing a controversial regional hydrocarbons law while
a draft national oil and gas law remains intensely debated, KRG
Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told reporters on August 7,
“Successive governments in Iraq have deliberately left our oil in
the ground as an effort to keep our people [ethnic Kurds] poor and
to deny our aspirations for a better way of life. Today, with the
passage of this new Kurdistan Law in a federal Iraq, we know that
those days are gone.”
¶7. (U) While espousing the benefits of foreign direct investment in
the Kurdistan Region’s oil producing areas, Nechirvan acknowledged
federal constitution provisions that require any oil revenues
generated under the KRG’s hydrocarbons law to be shared equally with
all Iraqis. He confirmed the KRG intends to limit itself to its
constitutionally mandated share of national oil revenues, regardless
of whether the oil is sourced inside or outside the Kurdistan
Region. He said, “We will receive 17 percent of all revenues from
all oil production in all of Iraq.”
¶8. (U) KRG Minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami echoed those
comments. Hawrami said on September 9, “We believe that the [KRG’s]
production-sharing agreements are the best way to move swiftly
forward and help not just the Kurds but all Iraqis.” He envisions
that the Kurdistan Region will produce one million barrels of oil
per day within five years. To achieve this goal, the KRG intends to
sign PSCs with other large international oil companies. On
September 9, Hawrami told Dow Jones, “I think we’ll be having an
announcement with a blue-chip company soon.”

While Criticizing Central Government Paralysis
——————————————— –

¶9. (SBU) Following passage of the KRG hydrocarbons law, KRG
officials recommitted themselves to the February 2007 national
hydrocarbons framework agreement. Nechirvan told RRT Erbil’s Team
Leader on August 28 that he hoped the new KRG law “would spur
movment in Baghdad” to enact a national hydrocarbons law. During
that meeting, however, Nechirvan expressed disappointment with
political developments in Baghdad and pessimism about “whether the
Sunnis and the Shi’a want to live together.” He said the KRG does
not want Iraq’s central government to “hold up development of
regional resources for another ten years.”

Arab Leaders Critical of KRG Oil Law
————————————
¶10. (U) Senior central government officials in Baghdad condemned the
oil deals signed by the KRG in advance of enactment of national
hydrocarbons legislation. Abdul Hadi al Hasani, Deputy Chairman of
the national parliament’s Energy Committee, said recently that such
contracts may be overturned by the federal government, though he
conceded that such a move could discourage potential foreign
investments in Iraq’s oil sector. Sami al Askari, a parliamentarian
and senior advisor to Prime Minister al Maliki, told reporters on
September 7 that a federal oil and gas council to be formed under
the national hydrocarbons law could decide whether to rescind the
KRG’s handful of oil contracts with foreign investors. In a
concession to the reality that foreign direct investment in Iraq’s
oil infrastructure remains both valuable and scarce, the
parliamentarians said the private firms that signed deals with the
KRG should not be blocked from winning future oil contracts in
Iraq.

COMMENT
¶11. (SBU) USG policy has discouraged companies from signing oil
deals with the KRG until Iraq enacts its national hydrocarbon
framework law, as such regional contracts could act as an impediment
to negotiations toward a comprehensive national settlement that
equitably distributes Iraq’s oil wealth. Such contracts also remain
subject to significant legal ambiguity. This has not deterred Hunt
Oil and the other handful of companies that have signed PSCs with

BAGHDAD 00003071 003 OF 003

the KRG. Their concerns about the nebulous political environment
and possible eventual dissolution of their PSCs have been overridden
by the prospect of huge profits – from getting first access to the
choicest oil exploration fields in northern Iraq, and from
establishing productive relationships with key KRG and central
government officials. The potential pitfalls are especially acute
in cases (e.g. Hunt Oil and its junior partner IEC) where investors
will commence operations in disputed territories. It remains
doubtful that the KRG was legally entitled to enter into a binding
contract with Hunt Oil that covers oil exploration and eventual
hydrocarbons production in an area (i.e. northern Ninewa province)
that the KRG does not legally control. Legal considerations aside,
the KRG’s actions complicates enactment of a national hydrocarbons
law.
BUTENIS

 


US, UK munitions ‘cause birth defects in Iraq’

Iraqi women wait with their sick children at a Baghdad hospital.(AFP Photo / Karim Sahib)

Iraqi women wait with their sick children at a Baghdad hospital.(AFP Photo / Karim Sahib)

US and UK weapons ammunition were linked to heart defects, brain dysfunctions and malformed limbs, according to a recent study. The report revealed a shocking rise in birth defects in Iraqi children conceived after the US invasion.

Titled ‘Metal Contamination and the Epidemic of Congenital Birth Defects in Iraqi Cities,’ the study was published by the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. It revealed a connection between military activity in the country and increased numbers of birth defects and miscarriages.

The report, which can be found here, also contains graphic images of Iraqi children born with birth defects. (The images were not published on RT due to their disturbing content.) It documents 56 families in Fallujah, which was invaded by US troops in 2004, and examines births in Basrah in southern Iraq, which was attacked by British forces in 2003.

The study concluded that US and UK ammunition is responsible for high rates of miscarriages, toxic levels of lead and mercury contamination and spiraling numbers of birth defects, which ranged from congenital heart defects to brain dysfunctions and malformed limbs.

Fallujah, around 40 miles west of Baghdad, was at the epicenter of these various health risks. The city was first invaded by US Marines in the spring of 2004, and then again 7 months later. Some of the heaviest artillery in the US arsenal was deployed during the attack, including phosphorus shells.

A round lights up the night-sky before a U.S. bombardment over the Iraqi city of Falluja at the beginning, November 8, 2004.(Reuters / Eliana Aponte)
A round lights up the night-sky before a U.S. bombardment over the Iraqi city of Falluja at the beginning, November 8, 2004.(Reuters / Eliana Aponte)

Shocking findings

Between 2007 and 2010 in Fallujah, more than half of all babies surveyed were born with birth defects. Before the war, this figure was around one in 10. Also, over 45 percent of all pregnancies surveyed ended in miscarriage in 2005 and 2006, compared to only 10 percent before the invasion.

In Basrah’s Maternity Hospital, more than 20 babies out of 1,000 were born with defects in 2003, 17 times higher than the figure recorded in the previous decade.

Overall, the study found that the number of babies in the region born with birth defects increased by more than 60 percent (37 out of every 1,000 are now born with defects) in the past seven years. This rise was linked to an increased exposure to metals released by the bombs and bullets used over the past decade.

Hair samples of the population of Fallujah revealed levels of lead in children with birth defects five times higher than in other children, and mercury levels six times higher. Basrah children with birth defects had three times more lead in their teeth than children living in areas not struck by the artillery.

The intense fighting in Iraq led by the US and UK is not the only thing that harmed children in cities like Fallujah and Basrah – a new study revealed a shocking rise in birth defects in children conceived after the invasion. (AFP Photo / Odd Andersen)
The intense fighting in Iraq led by the US and UK is not the only thing that harmed children in cities like Fallujah and Basrah – a new study revealed a shocking rise in birth defects in children conceived after the invasion. (AFP Photo / Odd Andersen)

The study found a “footprint of metal in the population,” Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, one of the lead authors of the report said. Savabieasfahani is an environmental toxicologist at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health.

“In utero exposure to pollutants can drastically change the outcome of an otherwise normal pregnancy. The metal levels we see in the Fallujah children with birth defects clearly indicates that metals were involved in manifestation of birth defects in these children,” she said.

The study’s preliminary findings, released in 2010, led to an in-depth inquiry on Fallujah by the World Health Organization (WHO), the results of which will be released next month. The inquiry is expected to show an increase in birth defects following the Iraq War.

According to the WHO, a pregnant woman can be exposed to lead or mercury through the air, water and soil. The woman can then pass the exposure to her unborn child through her bones, and high levels of toxins can damage kidneys and brains, and cause blindness, seizures, muteness, lack of coordination and even death.

US and UK ‘unaware’ of rise in birth defects

US Defense Department responded to the report by claiming that there are no official reports indicating a connection between military action and birth defects in Iraq.

“We are not aware of any official reports indicating an increase in birth defects in Al Basrah or Fallujah that may be related to exposure to the metals contained in munitions used by the US or coalition partners,” a US Defense Department spokesperson told the Independent. “We always take very seriously public health concerns about any population now living in a combat theatre. Unexploded ordnance, including improvised explosive devises, are a recognized hazard.”

An UK government spokesperson also said there was no “reliable scientific or medical evidence to confirm a link between conventional ammunition and birth defects in Basrah. All ammunition used by UK armed forces falls within international humanitarian law and is consistent with the Geneva Convention.”

 


via Missed Link:- US Cables – EMBASSY ATHENS – WikiLeaks missing/hidden links

Those are some of the missing greek cables from Wikileaks.Certainly those few and past ones do not satisfy nobody. What happened with the submarines german deal,what happened with Siemens and ex Minister Tsoxatzopoulos,What has happened with the Aegean and which are the surprises we haven’t seen yet.Wikileakes  reveals nothing more than what a common tabloid has already. Sorry guys,I used to be a supporter

The Syrian files were released including a helluva of greek corporate names, but where the hell is the proof? Where is the Alcatel Cables?  the Syrian Assad communication cables with the Italo- Greek communication Services? THIS  CONSTITUTES A CRIME AGAINST NATIONS,MAINLY SYRIA AND THEN ITALY AND GREECE

Whoever decided to hide those cables he should be considered an accessory to PEACE crimes

Greece Cables

– US Cables – EMBASSY ATHENS – WikiLeaks –

Arms Procurement Plan 2006-2010 approved – Cablegate – 2006: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/08/06ATHENS2031.html

  • “On July 25, the GoG announced plans to spend an estimated EUR 27 billion for arms procurement over the next decade”
  • “The government’s handling of defense procurement, Papoutsis said, increases costs, “mortgages” the future of the welfare state”
  • “and pushes up the overall defense budget instead of economizing with the view of offering more funds for education, health care, and social security”
______________________________________________________________________________

Students Protest proposed University Reforms, Shut down Athens Center – Cablegate – 2006: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/06/06ATHENS1507.html

  • “Many who oppose the amendments have focused on what they call the “commercialization” of the public university education or “surrender of public universities to private interests.””
  • Comment [US]: “We have long pushed for the GoG to recognize degrees from private institutions, which would, among other things, benefit private U.S. higher learning institutions already here”

Government caves to Student Protests, postpones proposed University Reforms – Cablegate – 2006: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/06/06ATHENS1556.html

  • “In the face of continuing, mass student protests and demonstrations, Education Minister Yiannakou announced on June 13 that she would postpone submitting the draft bill on education reforms during the summer parliament recess as originally planned”
  • Comment [US]: “The government’s postponement in the face of student protests is disappointing to us: a number of U.S.-based private, non-profit universities operating here would benefit from these reforms”
_________________________________________

Southern Corridor Energy Conference examines European Energy Security – Cablegate – 2006: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/08/06ATHENS2078.html

  • “Gazprom’s growing stranglehold on European energy supplies, particularly in the area of natural gas, has the potential to reduce these countries’ diplomatic freedom of movement in support of U.S. diplomatic goals”
  • “Improving these countries’ energy security and diversity of supply options can therefore improve U.S. national security”
  • “One key element of this overall strategy is maximizing the opportunity provided by the new Turkey-Greece-Italy natural gas interconnector, currently under construction, to bring Caspian gas to Europe”

The U.S. Strategy:

  • “All agreed that it is imperative to promote energy diversification strategies that encompass the development of additional energy sources and suppliers to provide vulnerable SE and SCE countries with alternatives to Gazprom”
  • “To confront Gazprom domination, there must be a concerted effort to diversify and develop multiple gas pipelines from the Caspian to Europe”

“Turkey’s Role — as Transit Country or as Reseller — Must Be Clarified”

  • “During the conference it became clear that the key problem vis-a-vis Turkey is its aspirations to become an energy reseller, extracting (it hopes) greater profits from gas trade than it would as a simple gas transit country”

“The Russian Strategy: Gazprom”

  • “Firstly, what kind of a company is Gazprom? According to conference participants, Gazprom,s risk-averse business model seeks to consolidate all aspects of gas production, transportation, and delivery into a vertically integrated operation”
  • “Moreover, Gazprom’s predatory behavior towards potential competitors seeks to expand its reach horizontally. The result is the creation of a “super” monopoly”
  • “Once the deal is struck, however, Gazprom has been utilizing its market power to extract concessions from the customer, whether in new pricing agreements, increased preferential access to transit capacity, or frequently, in majority or strong minority control of local gas companies”
______________________________________________________________________________

Putin and Purvanov in Athens: the long Road to Burgas-Alexandroupolis – Cablegate – 2006: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/09/06ATHENS2324.html

  • “The Burgas-Alexandroupolis Project: “The B-A project was originally conceived in 1994 as a project to relieve tanker traffic through the congested Bosporus strait”
  • The 285-kilometer cross-border pipeline is designed to carry Russian oil from the Bulgarian port of Burgas to the Greek port of Alexandroupolis in northern Greece”
  • “The project has an estimated investment cost of 750-800 million US dollars with an annual capacity of 35 million tonnes of oil”

Greek PM in Moscow: Rhetoric (Apparently) Unmatched by Deeds – Cablegate – 2007: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/12/07ATHENS2375.html

  • “During a December 17-18 visit to Moscow, Greek PM Karamanlis signed with Russian President Putin and Bulgarian President Parvanov an agreement establishing a company to construct the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline through Bulgaria and Greece”
  • “We have told the Greeks the U.S. has no problem with better Greek-Russian ties. At the same time, we continue to ask how Greece can reconcile its support for the Turkey-Greece-Italy gas inter-connector with the competing South Stream project — a question to which we have yet to receive an adequate reply”
_________________________________________

P.M. Karamanlis Trip to Russia: Energy – Cablegate – 2008: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/04/08ATHENS598.html

  • “The IGA, he said, includes provisions that: an international holding company (Societe Anonyme) will be established for the portion of South Stream that passes through Greek territory, jointly and equally owned by Gazprom and the Greek Pipeline Transmission Operator (DESFA)”

Energy: Greeks see Baku ready to Cooperate, Ankara standing in the Way – Cablegate – 2008: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/03/08ATHENS438.html

  • “Minister of Development Folias told the Ambassador he had found a spirit of “excellent cooperation” in Baku during his March 17 trip there”
  • “He noted that “The Azeris are as keen to work with us as we are with them. Moreover, they have a huge supply of gas.””
  • “Folias said Azerbaijani officials had told him that the country had gas for 100 – 200 years, and that it had extracted 28 bcm of gas this year alone”

TFGG01: Greece’s Business-as-Usual with Russia undermines strong NATO Statements – Cablegate – 2008: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/08/08ATHENS1216.html

  • “Despite strong statements at NATO and the EU by FM Bakoyannis supporting Georgian territorial integrity and condemning Russia’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, the GOG at the same time is moving ahead with several “business-as-usual” events with Russia, including a visit this week of a Russian defense industry team to discuss arms purchases, the impending Parliamentary ratification of the South Stream gas pipeline deal with Russia, and co-sponsorship with Russia of a major cultural event marking 180 years of Greek-Russian diplomatic relations”
  • “Embassy will continue to press the GOG to delay or cancel these events to avoid undercutting NATO and EU positions”
_________________________________________

U.S./Greece Mil-to-Mil Cooperation: the Good, the Bad, and the Necessary – Cablegate – 2008: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/06/08ATHENS896.html

  • “The Greeks currently tend to overstate both their contributions and their importance to the United States, and there is no need to accept the Greek hyperbole. But some of the facts of this cooperation speak for themselves”
  • “The GOG has proven to be a very cooperative partner at Souda Bay, though it does not advertise this for domestic political reasons”

MOD Venizelos lays out Views before Parliament – Cablegate – 2009: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/10/09ATHENS1563.html

  • “New Minister of Defense Evangelos Venizelos recently told Parliament that he will take an “extremely cautious” view towards NATO’s Strategic Concept, that he wants to avoid Aegean tensions but will resist flagrant Turkish violations of international law and threats of violence, and that he wants to reduce defense spending to average OSCE levels”
______________________________________________________________________________


der Standard: die Griechen müssen ehrlich zu sich sein: http://derstandard.at/1326503009320/Die-Griechen-muessen-ehrlich-zu-sich-sein

  • “mangelnde Steuermoral, Beihilfenbetrug und grenzenlose Rüstungsausgaben freuen nur Waffenhersteller und Banken im Ausland”

Aufruf zum EU-Streik gegen die Ratingagenturen – Sepp Wall-Strasser: http://derstandard.at/1304552271368/Griechenland-Aufruf-zum-EU-Streik-gegen-die-Ratingagenturen

  • “die Gründe für das Nichtfunktionieren liegen auf der Hand: Kein Land kann sich aus einer Krise “heraussparen””
  • “die drakonischen Maßnahmen strafen die falschen, sie bringen die Realwirtschaft zum Absturz und lassen die eigentlichen Verursacher – die “Märkte” – ungeschoren davonkommen”
  • “Retten könnte uns nur noch ein radikaler Politikwechsel innerhalb der EU – also gleichsam ein Streik gegen jene Kräfte, die derzeit drauf und dran sind, die Grundlagen der Gemeinschaft zu ruinieren”
  • “klar ist, dass es darum geht, die vielzitierten “Märkte” – die geballte Macht der Finanzindustrie – in die Schranken zu weisen und die “Polis” – das Gemeinsame, die Demokratie – zu retten”
______________________________________________________________________________

Homer – Wikipedia EN: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer


BP Entry contract for Rumaila field

Fourth release, 31 July 2011

During the second half of 2009, Iraq held two auctions of its largest oilfields, awarding them to multinational companies such as BP, Shell and ExxonMobil to operate under 20-year contracts. Between them the oilfields account for over 60% of Iraq’s reserves. The contracts were service contracts rather than the companies’ preferred production sharing agreements, which had been proposed for Iraq but rejected as giving too much away.

Media reports of the auction focused on the headline remuneration fees. These sounded so low – between $1.15 and $5.50 per barrel – that many commentators questioned the profitability of the deals. But as always in oil contracts, the devil is in the detail. And whereas the auctions were billed by the Iraqi government as among the world’s most transparent contracting processes, the first contract, for the super-giant Rumaila field near Basra, was privately renegotiated between the Iraqi government and the winning BP/CNPC consortium for more than three months after the auction.The result was that the terms changed significantly from the published model contract on which the auction was based, to  make it much more attractive to BP and CNPC, at the expense of the Iraqi people.

  • We have obtained the renegotiated Rumaila contract, and can reveal its contents for the first time. The major changes are explained in the report “From Glass Box to Smoke Filled Room – How BP secretly renegotiated its Iraqi oil contract, and how Iraqis will pay the price”, written by Fuel on the Fire author Greg Muttitt and published by PLATFORM.

NEW REPORT: From Glass Box to Smoke Filled Room.

DOCUMENT 12: the original model contract, on which the auction was based.
DOCUMENT 13: the leaked, renegotiated contract, which was actually signed.

Also in today’s release:

  • Another document released today reveals the possible reason BP was so successful in changing the terms in its favour, by focusing on the detailed terms of the contract. In April 2009, Ministry of Oil officials travelled to the UK to explore how to meet their training needs. Just two months before the auction, foremost among the areas where they sought training were commercial and negotiating skills. And the training provider they went to? BP!

DOCUMENT 14: Letter from BP to Iraq Ministry of Oil, 28 April 2009.

  • The contracts were opposed by many in Iraq, including oil experts, the management of the South Oil Company (which would have to work with BP on the Rumaila field), the oil trade union and the parliamentary oil and gas committee. When parliamentarians called in the Iraqi Oil Minister for questioning about the contract, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wrote to the speaker of parliament to warn against the move. In the private and confidential letter, released today, he told the speaker that he would consider such questioning to be “in harmony” with recent major terrorist bombings in Baghdad.

DOCUMENT 15: Letter from Nouri al-Maliki to parliament, October 2009 (Arabic original)

DOCUMENT 16: Letter from Nouri al-Maliki to parliament, October 2009 (English translation)

Fifth release, July 17, 2012

(See also today’s press release)

Two documents are published today, revealing for the first time the role of the Energy Infrastructure Planning Group, whose purpose was to plan for the running of Iraq’s oil industry during the period of direct U.S. occupation and administration of Iraq (under the CPA of Paul Bremer, as it became).

EIPG was established in summer 2002 by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith. It was led by Michael Mobbs, a political appointee in the Department of Defense. The other members were Michael Makovsy of the Department of Defense, Seneca Johnson of the Department of State, Clark Turner of the Department of Energy (Strategic Petroleum Reserve) and a CIA analyst.

The EIPG did the thinking behind the subject, and made recommendations to the Deputies and Principals Committees of the National Security Council (comprising the heads and second-in-commands of the government agencies relevant to national security).

They were obtained from the Department of Defense under the Freedom of Information Act. This is the first clear evidence, more than nine years on, that Bush administration officials were planning before the war to open the way to multinational oil companies, an assertion consistently denied by the government.

DOCUMENT 17: a briefing to the Deputies Committee on November 6, 2002.  The main topic of the meeting is how to spend the proceeds from Iraqi oil.

See especially page 10, where weighing up whether to repair war-damaged Iraqi oil infrastructure, one of the cons is that it “could deter private sector involvement”. Although this route was rejected (see DOCUMENT 18), it could later be seen in the U.S. forces’ failure to stop looting of the infrastructure in April 2003 (they only protected the Oil Ministry building, which held the irreplaceable geological data – they did nothing to protect drill rigs, pump stations etc). The attitude was seen again when the Oil Ministry’s considerable human resources were cleared out in fall 2003, in favor of friends and family of the new oil minister.

Note also on the contents page (2) the EIPG planned to consider later that month “whether to use control of Iraqi oil to advance important U.S. foreign policy objectives”. DOD reports that it holds no record of such discussions. They are likely to involve not direct U.S. energy interests, but whether to tear up eg Russian and Chinese contracts in order to harm those countries.

(The briefing was stored by the DOD as landscape printed on portrait paper – hence the edges are cut off in the official archive too!).
DOCUMENT 18: a briefing to the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on January 11, 2003, incorporating comments and decisions from earlier Deputies meetings.

Here the option of leaving war damage unrepaired so as to make room for Big Oil has been rejected, in favor of appointing Halliburton subsidiary KBR to carry out repairs (page 5).

Priorities are set of restoring crude oil production (which the USA needed) over electricity and fuel (which Iraqis needed – page 6).

Increasing Iraqi production to 5 million barrels per day (from 2.5m bpd)  is favored as it “helps consumers” and “puts long-term downward pressure on the oil price”

Strikingly, “pubic diplomacy” (page 4) means the message that would be given to the public, including saying that “we will act… so as not to prejudice Iraq’s future decisions” – even though the opposite is proposed as substantive policy. In other words, the briefing recommends that the Bush administration mislead the public on how it would approach Iraqi oil.


Oil Wars : The BP entry in Iraq [rare documentation]

First Release, 27 April 2011

These five documents are minutes of meetings about Iraq between the UK government and oil companies BP and Shell, ion the six months before the war. They were reported in the Independent on 19 April 2011.

The documents do not demonstrate that oil was the reason for the war. But they do show that during the preparations for war, oil was a central concern for the UK government, disproving its claims that it was not interested in Iraq’s oil.

The documents also provide a remarkable insight into the interaction between oil companies and government, at the highest levels. We see that the government needed no persuasion that it should help the companies – the civil servants clearly saw themselves as on the same side as the oilmen. The companies could barely contain their excitement about Iraq – “the big oil prospect”, as BP put it in one meeting (DOCUMENT 3) – and the tone is quite unlike that usually seen in minutes of government meetings. The companies and government officials alike had no doubt that a war would take place, months before the parliamentary vote and while the government struggling (unsuccessfully) to persuade the UN Security Council to pass resolution authorising the war.

From the company perspective, the main purpose of the meetings was to ensure that they got their share (as they saw it) of Iraqi oilfields after the war. They were especially worried that the US government would naturally favour US companies, and might offer other fields to French, Russian or Chinese companies in exchange for their governments’ support in the UN Security Council. Tony Blair had already pledged British participation in the war, and so the British companies feared that with no bargaining power they’d be left out.

Trade Minister Baroness Symons – a staunch Blairite and active member of the British American Project, which had aimed since the 1980s to align the Labour Party’s foreign policy with that of the USA – was present in two of the meetings. She said [DOCUMENT 2] that “It would be difficult to justify British companies losing out in Iraq in that way if the UK had itself been a conspicuous supporter of the US government throughout the crisis”. In other words, if British forces fight in a war then British companies should get a share of the spoils. This view is clearly unethical, but is also arguably illegal, under the Fourth Hague Convention.

BP and Shell both claimed that no such meetings took place. These minutes show such claims to be untrue. When invited to explain the discrepancy, both companies declined to comment. For her part, Symons said to Parliament in April 2003 that Iraq’s oil was “the patrimony of the people of Iraq, which should be used for their benefit, and for their benefit alone” – this was not what she said in private to the oil companies.

For more commentary on these documents, including the companies’ objectives and their history of deals with the Saddam regime, please see Chapter Four of Fuel on the Fire. For more on the UK and US governments’ strategic oil objectives, please see Chapter Three.

  • DOCUMENT  1 – Meeting of Edward Chaplin (Middle East Director, Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO)) with Tony Wildig (Senior Vice President for New Business in Middle East, Shell), 2 October 2002.


Chaplin: “Shell and BP could not afford not to have a stake in it for the sake of their long-term future… We were determined to get a fair slice of the action for UK companies in a post-Saddam Iraq.”

DOCUMENT 2 – Meeting of Baroness Liz Symons (Trade Minister) with representatives of BP (Richard Paniguian, Tony Renton), Shell (John Withrington, Gavin Graham) and BG (Bethell), 31 October 2002.

BP: Iraq “would provide an immense strategic advantage to any company which emerged in a commanding position”

Symons: “Anything of this nature would be highly sensitive and kept very close”.

DOCUMENT 3 – Meeting of Michael Arthur (Head of Economic Policy, FCO) with Richard Paniguian (Group Vice President for Russia, the Caspian, Middle East and Africa), 6 November 2002.

“Iraq is the big oil prospect. BP are desperate to get in there.”

BP: “Vitally important – more important than anything we’ve seen for a long time.”

DOCUMENT 4 – Meeting of Baroness Symons with Richard Paniguian and Tony Renton (Commercial Director Middle East, BP), 4 December 2002

Discussion of US planning efforts for Iraqi oil. “It was clear that Ahmad Chalabi, the leader of the INC [Iraq National Congress] had a key role in selecting who was involved in these groups”.
“BP believed that the US authorities need to start giving some serious consideration to a number of issues on the future of Iraq’s oil industry including Iraq’s role in OPEC, the role of both existing and future Oil Ministry and State Owned Oil Company.”
Note that BP wanted more involvement of Iraqi expertise – presumably for greater stability for any investment.

DOCUMENT 5 – Meeting of John Browne (Chief Executive, BP) with Michael Jay (Permanent Undersecretary, FCO), 18 March 2003

This meeting took place less than 48 hours before bombs started falling on Baghdad, at the highest level: the head of BP with the most senior civil servant in the FCO. Of Jay’s five predecessors in that role, four had become directors of oil and gas companies on retirement from government service (two at Shell and one each at BP and BG).
BP had a team ready. But in the longer-term development of Iraq’s oilfields “They would not wish to be involved unless they were clear that administrative and other structures were in place to ensure that their involvement would be acceptable to whatever government followed military action”. This political conservatism by the major oil companies would shape the evolution of Iraqi oil policy during the early years of the occupation. Note however that Browne did not apparently make the more common point that such deals would have to be legal.

Second Release – 27 April 2011

These three documents set out the British government’s objectives for Iraqi oil, and its strategies for how to achieve them. They were reported in the Independent on 20 April 2011.

The documents stand in stark contrast to public claims by the government that it had no interest in Iraq’s oil. For example, Tony Blair said in February 2003 that “The oil conspiracy theory is honestly one of the most absurd when you analyse it.” Three months later, a Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) strategy paper (DOCUMENT 6) would declare, “The future shape of the Iraqi oil industry will affect oil markets, and the functioning of OPEC, in both of which we have a vital interest.” That paper was written less than two weeks after President Bush declared “mission accomplished” on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln.
The nature of British and American interests in Iraqi and Middle Eastern oil is explored in Chapter 3 of Fuel on the Fire. It is not as simple as to ‘take the oil’ (as Donald Trump has been saying over the last few weeks as a launchpad for his presidential campaign). And nor is it just about getting contracts for their own companies, although that was a secondary aim, as discussed in the pre-war Whitehall meetings. The most important strategic interest lay in expanding global energy supplies, through foreign investment, in some of the world’s largest oil reserves – in particular Iraq. This meshed neatly with the secondary aim of securing contracts for their companies. Note that the strategy documents released here tend to refer to “British and global energy supplies”. British energy security is to be obtained by there being ample global supplies – it is not about the specific flow, as if physical Iraqi oil goes to China rather than Europe, another source (say, in Africa) can be re-rerouted from China to Europe in its place.
Chapters 9 and 11 of Fuel on the Fire look at how Britain and the USA sought to achieve their oil objectives during the early years of the occupation (before the formation of a permanent government in 2006). Those chapters contextualise and interpret these three British strategy documents; they also reflect on the favoured euphemism of “advice” (which implies that Iraqi leaders were independently able to take or leave the advice).
DOCUMENT 6 – Iraqi oil and British interests, FCO paper, 12 May 2003

As its title suggests, this document is quite blunt about British interests, not bothering to dress up its proposals as being in Iraqi interests. And it notes the interplay between British energy security and commercial interests.

DOCUMENT 7 – Management change in the Iraqi oil sector, 27 May 2003

Two weeks later, this document was prepared for an interdepartment meeting of the government’s Oil Sector Liaison Group, comprising officials from the FCO, the Treasury, the Department of Trade & Industry and the Department for International Development.
Unlike the previous document, this expresses its aims as being in the interests of Iraqis – yet of the seven items in the objectives list on page 4, five are quite plainly British rather than Iraqi concerns. Even the other two (the 4th and 5th) are only what outsiders imagine Iraqi concerns to be, rather inaccurately.
Note especially the aim for Iraq to be a role model for the other major oil countries in the region, and the call for it to remain within OPEC but as an advocate of lower oil prices.

DOCUMENT 8 – UK Energy Strategy for Iraq, September 2004

This too was an interdepartmental paper, and is quite clear about how Britain would influence the evolving Iraqi oil policy. Note especially the recognition that Iraqis won’t like the plans.


Case Name:Gazprom & the Russian Mafia

Surname: Alisher

Name: Usmanov

Fathername:

Position: General Director of “Gazprominvestholding”

Biography:

Born September 9, 1953 in the city Chust of the Namangan region, Uzbekistan SSR. In 1976, he graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (”MGIMO”), International Law department. After graduation, Usmanov worked as a junior researcher at the Center of Scientific Information in the presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR; he was a senior consultant for the Central Committee of Komsomol of Uzbekistan, Director General of Foreign Trade Association of the Soviet Committee for Defense of Peace (“SKZM”).

In the late 1980’s, he engaged in intense business activities. According to several media sources, in those years Usmanov was vice-president of Uzbek-Belgian joint venture “Vita” (Tashkent).

In 1990-1994 he worked as first deputy general director of JSC “Intercross” (according to other sources, he was president of JSC “Intercross”). In December 1992, he acted as the founder of the Moscow OOO “Company ‘Bars’ (Moscow)”, in June 1993 he became head of the finance and investment company AOZT “PRNB-Invest” (a subsidiary of the First Russian National Bank).

In August 1994, he became the founder of the AOZT “Goldkross”.

In 1994-1995 he was adviser to the director of the Moscow Aircraft Production Association (“MAPO”). In 1995 he became first deputy chairman of the MAPO-Bank. In 1994-1998, he led the Interbank Investment -financial company “Interfin” (ZAO “MIFK Interfin”), one of its founders was MAPO-Bank.

In 1997 he graduated from Finance Academy under the Government of Russia with a degree in Banking.

In 1997-2001, served in the Board of Directors of OAO “Arkhangelskgeoldobycha” (“AGD”) (according to other sources, in 1997 he became a member of the Board of Directors of “AGD-Invest”, and in 1998 – joined the Board of Directors in AGD.

In 1998 he became first deputy general director of OOO “Gazprominvestholding”, and in February 2000 he was appointed CEO of the holding.

In 1999 he became a member of the Board of Directors of ZAO “Arkhangelsk Almazy” (“Arkhangelsk diamonds”).

Starting from November 2000 to July 2001 was an adviser to chairman of Gazprom, Rem Vyakhirev.

In January 2005, he became co-owner of ZAO “Metalloinvest” – the former management company of Mikhailovsky GOK (“Mining and Processing Combine”) (MGOK), which had need acquired by Usmanov shortly before.

In August 2006, Usmanov became the owner of the publishing house “Kommersant” (he acquired both the media and the property owned by “Kommersant” with total area of 7.5 thousand square meters in Moscow and St. Petersburg). “Media holding” is listed as the owner of Kommersant – it is a registered overseas personal company of Usmanov. In December 2006, PB “Kommersant” and the company Metalloinvest also purchased some assets of PB “Sekret firmy” (“The secret of the company”) with its magazines: “The secret of the company,” “You have got the right”, “All is clear”, and the online newspaper Gazeta.ru.

On June 22, 2007 it became known that Usmanov had bought 75 % stake of the music channel “Muz-TV”. On August 30, 2007 he became co-owner of the London soccer club “Arsenal”. On September, 6 the businessman bought the American company Films by Jove and gave VGTRK the right to run 550 Soviet cartoons in the world (including “Cheburashka”, “Snow Queen”, “Mowgli”, “Hedgehog in the Fog”). According to some reports, the amount of the transaction amounted to 5.10 million dollars.

On September 17, 2007 the press reports appeared that the businessman bought a collection of paintings belonging to the singer Galina Vishnevskaya and her late husband, musician Mstislav Rostropovich. The singer was going to sell this collection at London auction Sotheby’s on September, 18-19. The deal amounted to 72 million dollars. On October 1, 2007 Usmanov officially announced the transfer of the collection of Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya to the Konstantin Palace in Strelna near St. Petersburg.

On May 7, 2008 the firm by Usmanov “AF Telecom Holding” and the IPOC Fund agreed to purchase through the Usmanov firm an 8 % stake in MegaFon and 58.9 per cent stake in Telecominvest, which, in turn, owned 31.3 % stake in Megafon . After the elimination of IPOC Usmanov has become the full owner of that share.

In June 2008, Usmanov and the owners of the company “SUP” (“Soup”), including the financier Alexander Mamut agreed to expand the partnership and exchanged their web assets. As a result, Kommersant received up to 50 % of “SUP” (which owned an Internet service LiveJournal), as well as an opportunity to appoint two members of the board of the company, and “Soup” became the owner of 100 % Internet-edition “Gazeta.ru”.

Usmanov is the executive vice-president of the British company Middlesex Holdings.

Usmanov’s company New Media Technologies was called the largest shareholder of the co-owner of one of Russia’s most popular social network “Odnoklassniki.ru” by the Company Digital Sky Technologies (DST). As of December 2009, the share of New Media Technologies in the company was 35 %.

In December 2008 he was elected president of the International Fencing Federation (FIE).

Usmanov is married. His wife Irina Viner is a head coach of Russia in rhythmic gymnastics. In December 2008, he was elected president of the All-Russian federation of the sport.
Source: lenta.ru (Updated on 22.12.2009)

In the world ranking of Forbes-2010 Usmanov has held the 100th place. His fortune by this year has been estimated at $ 7200 million; while in the last year it was $ 1600 million

Usmanov has two kids.
Source: forbesrussia.ru

Dossier:

According to press reports, in 1980, Alisher Usmanov- the son of the prosecutor of Tashkent – was sentenced by a military tribunal of the Turkestan Military District for extortion. It was reported that his accomplice had been an operative of the special department of the KGB Nasymov, son of Vice-Chairman of the KGB in Uzbekistan. Usmanov was sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment in a penal colony with confiscation of property. After the scandalous trial fathers of both convicts lost their jobs. In 1986, Usmanov was released on parole “due to sincere repentance” and “for good conduct.” Subsequently, Usmanov said that he was a victim of political repression. There is no information on the circumstances of the crime committed by Nasymov and Usmanov because the criminal case files had been destroyed, according to the media: in July 2000, the Uzbek Supreme Court fully rehabilitated Usmanov and called the criminal case against him as fabricated.
Sources: “Sobesednik” on 23.10.2007, “The Company” from 14.08.2000

Since the late 90-s the press began to report on a close acquaintance of Alisher Usmanov with a lieutenant colonel of foreign intelligence in the KGB Yevgeny Ananyev, as well as with Sergei Yastrzhemsky, in 2000 he became assistant to Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was reported on the ambiguous relationship of Usmanov: his name was mentioned in one context with Sergei Mikhailov, known under the nickname “Mikhas” and was considered the leader of the Solntsevo OPG. It was also reported on Usmanov’s dealings with State Duma deputy Andrei Skotch and businessman Lev Kvetny (both appeared in the media as members of the Solntsevo OPG, first – under the nickname “Scotch”, the second – “Kvetnoy”), as well – with the North Caucasian mafia clan.

According to the press, Usmanov met Ananyev in the late 80’s. After graduating MGIMO Usmanov headed the firm “Association of the 8th day”, which as written in the media, arranged hunting rare animals in the Pamirs for wealthy foreigners. It was reported that one of the customers allegedly tried to recruit Usmanov. But he tipped about the queer client to deputy chairman of the KGB Uzbekistan, after which he met the officer of the 6th Directorate of the KGB, USSR – Yevgeny Ananyev. When Usmanov opened shop for production of plastic bags in the Moscow area based on Ramensky plastics plant Ananiev allegedly helped him avoid the second arrest, according to press reports. The local police became interested in the shop : according to some sources, the waste of which the packages had been made in fact was a first-class raw material from the factory.

According to the press, in April 1993 MAPO-Bank was established with the participation of the first Russian Independent Bank, Usmanov was in the board of directors there. The bank reportedly was needed to serve the financial contracts of the state enterprise generating aircraft MAPO “MiG”. It was also reported that by the request of Usmanov shortly before the establishment of MAPO-Bank Evgeny Ananievwas introduced to the surrounding of Vladimir Kuzmin, then head of MAPO “MiG” , and was appointed an adviser.

As written in the press, according to some data, the bank enjoyed the patronage of the then Vice-Premier Oleg Soskovets and the Chief of Security Service of President Alexander Korzhakov. In August 1997, Ananiev was appointed director general of Rosvooruzhenie by decree of Boris Yeltsin. As a result, according to the press, MAPO-Bank received a serious clientele in the face of the FSB, SVR(Foreign Intelligence Service) and Rosvooruzheniye.

As written in the media with reference to operational data, before the establishment of MAPO-Bank Ananiev had met with one of the most influential in Central Asia boss nicknamed Gafur (Gafur Rakhimov) in the country house of Usmanov . Reportedly, then Usmanov allegedly had met with a criminal leader Sergei Mikhailov several times.

According to the press, accounts of the FSB, SVR and Rosvooruzheniye were transferred to other banks because of strengthening the position of organized crime in the MAPO-bank. As reported, starting from August 1996 MAPO-Bank focused on serving the project on creation a financial-industrial group “AtomRudMet” developed with the participation of Usmanov.

According to the press, MAPO-Bank became the main bank of “AtomRudMet”, its authorized capital consisted of the collective funds. Citing the security sources, the press reported it was through the export flows of “AtomRudMeta” the foreign currency funds of the North clan had been transferred abroad. And then there was information that the “collective funds” of the North Caucasian clan having been located in MAPO-Bank for almost four years, was removed and transferred to one of the offshore zones. Then on February 16, 2000 the Bank of Russia decided to revoke the license for banking operations of the MAPO-Bank, according to official information, it was due to its “inability to satisfy the claims of creditors on monetary obligations”.
Source: “Version” from 20.06.2000

According to the press, Usmanov co-founded the Inter-bank investment-financial company Interfin, which became a shareholder in MAPO-Bank; he did so at the same time with the creation of MAPO-Bank

As reported, this time the partner of Usmanov appeared to be Andrei Scotch, a former head of the firm “Oka-Oil” – an oil products trader. Since 1999, Andrew Scotch was member of the State Duma. In the press there is evidence of Scotch’s involvement in the Solntsevo OPG. In early 2003, Usmanov said in an interview that the group “Interfin” was owned by three partners. As reported, he said those were him and Kvetnoy. The third one, as suggested by journalists, was Scotch. The media suggested that the latter was not named because of his parliamentary mandate.
Sources: “The Company” from 15.09.2006, “Kommersant” dated 22.07.97, Kompromat.ru

In 2003, as it was written in the press, Alisher Usmanov became the owner of an asset with a bad reputation. As reported that the fall of 2002, he sided with General Director of “Russian Aluminum”, Oleg Deripaska, in a struggle for possession of “NOSTA” – Orsk-Khalilovsk steel plant. On a par with Deripaska Usmanov created LLC “Ural Steel”, which in October 2003 purchased the assets of “NOSTA”. Media reported that since the beginning of the 90’s the owner of “NOSTA” (as well as Avtobank Ingosstrakh, etc.) was Andrei Andreev – former senior officer of OBKhSS. According to press reports, the participation of Andreev in the bank’s capital and the insurance company was camouflaged by offshores and cross-ownership. But attempts by Andreev to work in a highly competitive industries had not been supported by sufficient financial and administrative resources. As a result, in 2001 Andreev lost his business empire. The owner of its assets became the consortium, consisting of Basic Element, Millhouse Capital and Nafta-Moscow (Abramovich and Deripaska). As the press wrote, later the entrepreneur insisted he had not sold Avtobank, Ingosstrakh, Nosta and others, but that they had actually stolen them from him. Ingosstrakh stayed with Oleg Deripaska, “Nosta” came under the control of Alisher Usmanov. Avtobank became an integral part of Uralsib (Nikolai Tsvetkov).
Source: lenta.ru with reference to the Center for Economic and Policy Research and Development of 24.06.2004, “The Secret Companies» # 39 (174) on 23.10.2006, # 6 (141) on 13.02.2006

In 2004, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray publicly accused Usmanov of a number of serious crimes. It was reported that Murray had been British Ambassador to Uzbekistan in 2002-2004, then he accused the Uzbek government of violating human rights. Later he wrote the book “Murder in Samarkand”. In that book Murray wrote about the beginning of negotiations between Gazprom and Uzbekistan over the expansion of the gas trade. Citing its own sources, the author claimed that a key figure in this business had been an oligarch Alisher Usmanov. He had allegedly given bribes over 80 million dollars to President Karimov’s daughter, Gulnara Karimova (the company, in which she had interests, was listed in the media as a link between the management of Uzbekistan and Gazprom).
Source: newsru.com of 9.04. 2008

Murray wrote in an article posted in the British press that:

“Large sums for bribing ‘necessary” people had been sent through ‘Gazprominvestholding’ of Usmanov. Thus, in November 2004 they paid 44 million pounds to the president’s daughter Gulnara Karimova who allowed Gazprom to snatch a contract with Uzbekistan from the Americans. In exchange for the money Putin gave instructed Karimov to kick out the Americans from the military base that was controlling the Central Asian region, and Gazprom received a strategic bridgehead for hegemony over the gas reserves of Central Asia and Caucasus.
Source: “The Mail on Sunday” (Translation: InoSMI.Ru from 28.05.2007), “Sobesednik” on 23.10.2007

Press wrote that once the site of Craig Murray (at that time – the famous British blogger) came with the publication of allegations against Alisher Usmanov, web hosting company shut off several well-known political sites. As they explained in the hosting company, the work of the site of Craig Murray had been suspended due to the fact that “potentially dangerous defamatory material.” had been placed on it. And it was done after the London law firm Schillings had submitted the provider a demand to remove the contents of the site Murray, representing the interests of Usmanov in the UK.
Source: RB.Ru from 24.09.2007

In May 2005, as the press wrote, Usmanov made a “capture attack” on “Magnitka” – Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (“MMK”). It was reported that the businessman had intended to subordinate the factory itself. But its leader Viktor Rashnikov proved intractable. The MMK historically lacked the proper raw materials, and Usmanov, “put” it on the “raw diet”. In May 2005, the supply of iron ore from the mining and concentration complexes (Mikhailovsky and Lebedinsk) controlled by Usmanov were stopped. Usmanov also persuaded the Kazakh colleagues, Sokolov-Sarbaiskoye mining production enterprise (“SSGPO” previously provided 70% of MMK) to join the “raw blockade” of Magnitka. As the press wrote, in a few days the largest company of the steel industry in the country, which share of Russian production was 20%, appeared to be without a supplier. MMK was on the verge of stopping. But, as reported, Rashnikov’s relations in the Kremlin helped him avoid a takeover by Metalloinvest.
Sources: “The Company” from 15.09.2006, http://www.met1.ru, http://www.metalloprokat.ru from 30.05.2005

In May 2005 the press reported that two months beforehand Usmanov had bought a luxurious mansion secretly in London, formerly belonging to the Emir of Qatar. It was reported that the house had been built in the style of the English Empire and was located in an area of 11 acres in North London. According to media reports, it was put up for sale in January 2004 for 65 million pounds. Usmanov paid much lower price – 48 million pounds, but he bought the estate which is still proved to be one of the most expensive real estate in the history of London. Journalists noted that, based on cadastral documents, Usmanov bought real estate through a company registered on the Isle of Man.
Source: The Sunday Times (Translation: Inopressa.ru from 19.05.2008)

In August 2006, Alisher Usmanov bought PH “Kommersant” from Badri Patarkatsishvili,which had been previously owned by Berezovsky. The press went burst with the publications of the cardinal change of the situation in the Russian media market. Media broadcast the views of analysts who suggested that Usmanov had been acting on behalf of Gazprom which since 2001 had been buying up the media in the interests of the Kremlin.
Source: Press Attashe.Ru of 31.08.2006

It was reported that Usmanov himself claimed that he had bought Kommersant at his own expense, for $ 200 million. Usmanov called the new purchase a “long-term investment in business which was new for him.
Source: Regnum from 31.08.2006

A number of analysts expressed the view in the press that the purchase of Kommersant confirmed the story of the task posed by the Kremlin to create media holding on the threshold of the forthcoming parliamentary (2007) and presidential (2008) election, which was to have credibility in the eyes of potential voters. National News Agency, for example, wrote that the purchase of Kommersant virtually ensured the victory of the current government in the upcoming elections, as the leading publications of the country had already been under the control commercial and governmental structures close to the Kremlin(Promsvyazbank, Gazprom-Media) Source: National News Agency of 25.12.2006

In October 2007 the press reported that the multinational diamond company De Beers accused Alisher Usmanov of fraud. It was reported that a subsidiary of De Beers – Archangel Diamond Corporation (ADC) – filed a lawsuit in the U.S. court to recover the losses incurred due to the ill-fated collaboration with a former business of Usmanov – Arkhangelskgeoldobycha (“AGD”). Press wrote that, according to plaintiffs, De Beers lost control over the diamond fields due to the fact that Usmanov deliberately had been buying its shares. According to media reports, the subject of the claim was a long-standing deal between the ADC (which owns a controlling stake in De Beers) and AGD (former company of Usmanov). Referring to the materials of the case, the press wrote that in the late 90’s De Beers became the majority owner of the diamond pipes named after Gribov in the Arkhangelsk region. According to the position of the plaintiffs, the shares of the pipes named after Gribov had been bought by Alisher Usmanov, and after some time the company was privatized. De Beers lost its access to the diamond fields. According to press reports, the plaintiffs pointed out that the deposit was explored in 1996, and Usmanov, served in the Board of Directors of AGD from 1997 to 2001.

It was reported that De Beers estimated its damage from the alleged fraud at 30 million dollars of investments. According to the press, the plaintiffs also argued that they had lost at least $ 400 million of guaranteed profits. According to the documents of the state of Colorado court, as journalists wrote, the position of ADCwas reduced due to the fact that Usmanov and other interested persons from Russia “had entered into a criminal conspiracy in order to mislead” the company “about the agreement on the right for 40% of the company which was having the right for exploitation.

According to press reports, hearings on the suit of ADC in the court of Colorado had to begin in November 2007.
Source: newsru.com of 8.10. 2007, The Sunday Times 08.10.2007, “version” of 20.06.2000

Media reported that on the day of the news appearance about the lawsuit in the court of Colorado, the press office of the businessman denied the message. As they explained to reporters, the information in the press did not correspond to reality, and Usmanov was not a defendant on the claims of the company ADC.

The representatives of the press-service said that ADC lost all claims against AGD filed in 1998-2003. AGD won the courts on the territory of Russia, as well as in the Stockholm court (Sweden) and in the district court of Denver (USA). According to the press service, the only case lasted in Colorado was against JSC “LUKoil (AGD was called subsudiary of the oil company). Meanwhile, as the press service told, during the trials the facts of fraud had been established committed by the persons representing the interests of ADC. For example, there were indications that the basic document ADC based its claim turned out to be false.
Source: “Times” of 08.10.2007

In late 2007, the press mentioned the wife of Alisher Usmanov – the legendary coach Irina Viner in connection with an ugly story. It was reported that she had appropriated to heself the roof of the luxury house at the street Krylatsky hills, taking 100 sq meters of the property. According to press reports, Irina Viner bought an apartment in 200 sq.m. in that house. The scandal burst because of the superstructure on the roof made by the coach without the consent of the other tenants. The heads of the housing cooperative “AlStar” filed a lawsuit to court.

As reported in the press, during the proceedings Viner allegedly said “I am not aware of what is happening there. I do not live at that address, but do repairs!”. The Kuntsevsky court granted the plaintiffs, ordering Viner to dismantle the substructure.
Source: “Express-Gazeta” on 02.10.2007

In early 2009, Usmanov’s name was mentioned in the press in connection with the development of Udokan copper deposit scandal. According to media reports, in September 2008 a subsidiary of Metalloinvest – Mikhailovsky GOK in a concession to Rostechnology received the right to develop this deposit. In early 2009, there were indications that ” Metalloinvest did not pay the remaining 10.5 billion rubles for the license to develop Udokan. In this regard, the press wrote that Metalloinvest seemed to find a powerful patron in the person of Deputy Head of Federal Agency for Subsoil Use, Vladimir Bavlov because the company offered a six-month delay in paying the rest of the amount. The press reported that because of the economic crisis Metalloinvest was going to reconsider the license conditions by changing the terms of the construction (from 7 years to 9-10 years) and payback period of mining-processing enterprise.

The press wrote that Usmanov has decided to seek assistance from the State Bank like several other oligarchs suffering a difficult situation. It was reported that the head of state corporation “Rostehnology” Sergey Chemezov was negotiating with Vnesheconombank for a loan of 10 billion rubles for the start of Udokan development. By the words of Chemezov, the funds were scheduled to be received by the spring of 2010.
Source: “Moskovsky Komsomolets” from 23.04.2009

According to media reports, in early 2010 the management of Metalloinvest argued that the company was showing signs of recovery. But it was reported that strup of the development of Udokan, which had been scheduled to begin in spring 2010, was postponed.
Sources: moscow-post.ru from 13.01.2010, expert.ru from 23.11. 2009

The press wrote that the business of Alisher Umanov suffered greatly from the economic crisis. The businessman does not deny this also. According to media reports, in 2009 Usmanov admitted that Metallinvest had huge debts. As of April 2009, the oligarch estimated them at $ 5 billion. In an interview with Vedomosti and Kommersant, he acknowledged that he was doing not very well. The press reflects the opinions of experts who believe that debts of Usmanov exceed 5 billion dollars. Journalists wrote that Usmanov was selling non-core assets. He has already sold 75% in the operator of the South Tambeyskoye gas condensate field. According to the staff of Center political conjuncture of the entrepreneur’s business structure have owed about $ 10 billion altogether.
Source: “Case of the Week” from 23.04.2009

Surname: Korzhakov

Name: Alexander

Fathername: Vasilyevich

Position: Advisor to Governor of Tula region

Bio:
Korzhakov was born on 31 January, 1950 in Moscow. He comes from the family of workers.
In 1967-1968 he worked as a second-class assembly mechanic at Moscow Electromechanical Plant.
In 1969-1970 served in the Kremlin regiment.
In 1970-1989 he worked for the Ninth Chief Directorate of the KGB. He was engaged in protection of superior government officials. In 1971 Korzhakov joined the Communist Party and became a member of the party bureau and a member of the Komsomol committee of the Ninth Directorate.
In 1981-1982 he served in Afghanistan.
In 1985 – 1987 he was a bodyguard of Boris Yeltsin, the first secretary of Moscow city party committee.

In 1989 he was dismissed from the KGB “on age and health grounds”, but the actual reason was his support to Yeltsin who had quarrelled with the government by that time. Korzhakov remained Yeltsin’s bodyguard and worked under his direction at the reception of chairman of the Supreme Soviet construction and architecture committee.
In 1990 – 1991 he was the head of security department under chairman of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet Boris Yeltsin.
In 1991 – 1996 he was the chief of the Presidential Security Service
In 1991 – 1995 he was the first deputy chief of the Protective Service of Russia.
In 1996 he was a member of Yeltsin’s election staff. In June 1996 was removed from all the positions he had taken. A few months later he allied with general Alexander Lebed.
In 1997 Korzhakov was elected State Duma deputy from the Tula region. At that time he also published a book titled Boris Yeltsin: From Dawn to Dusk.
Since January 2000 he has been deputy chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee.
Awards:
Order For Personal Courage
Korzhakov has two daughters, Galina and Natalia, by his first wife Irina Semyonovna Korzhakova. In 2008 he married to his assistant Galina.
In 2010 Korzhakov earned 2.4 million rubles. He had an apartment provided for free use that had an area of 68 square meters. Korzhakov owned a land plot measuring 3,400 square meters and a house. He owned Chrysler 300 car, Chevrolet Avalanche truck, Chevrolet-Express j3500 bus and ATV.
Source: Wikipedia

Dossier:
While being the chief of the Presidential Security Service, Korzhakov had profound influence on Yeltsin. The service was established by special Yeltsin’s decree and was not regulated by law. To control it Yeltsin issued Presidential Security Service Regulations that became classified information. Security Service was engaged in operational-search activity and surveillance of potentially dangerous citizens. The service used hidden camera techniques, phone tapping and so on, although the Presidential Security Service was not mentioned in the law On operative-search activity that granted a licence for that kind of activity. Security Service call-forward was included in confidential part of the budget message avaliable only for specially authorized officials, including members of the Duma Security Committee. No one, but the Kremlin officials, was supposed to know about fund amounts and expenditure pattern of Korzhakov’s departments.
Source: Dossier on Korzhakov by Most group.

The Communists reported that on 3-4 October 1993, during the armed conflict in Moscow, Korzhakov had been involved in shooting defenders of the government quarters. He was said to demand their execution after they had been captured and brought to the stairs of the quarters: “I am ordered to liquidate all the uniformed people!”

But in fact, Korzhakov’s role was insignificant. He confined himself to arresting security officers Rutskoi , Khasbulatov and Makashov. Rumours about “bloody butcher Korzhakov” are still not confirmed. There is no evidence of the very fact that militants who had surrendered were shot.
Source: old.flb.ru, 21 November 2007

The first overt conflict between Korzhakov and Gusinsky-Chubais alliance was provoked by Korzhakov’s attack on Gusinsky’s Most holding corporation. On 2 December1994 officers of the Presidential Guard were ordered by Korzhakov to raid Moscow office of Most-bank, located at the City Hall quarters in Novy Arbat street. Officers blocked the office for several hours. A criminal case on the raid was dismissed “for lack of corpus delicti”. Moreover, chief of Moscow FSB office Evgeni Savostyanov, who then had come to the aid of Gusinsky along with his officers, was immediately discharged. Soon after that Gusinsky left for London and spent there five months

Source: Vremya novostey, 16 June 2000

On 19 June 1996, in the evening, Arkadi Yevstafyev and Sergey Lisovsky, members of Yeltsin’s campaign staff, headed by Chubais, were detained while carrying a photocopier box out of the Government House. Cash amount totalling 538 thousand U.S. dollars was found in the box. After questioning Yevstafyev and Lisovsky were released. Chief of the Presidential Security Service Korzhakov, the FSB director Mikhail Barsukov and first deputy Prime Minister Oleg Soskovets, who had initiated their detention, were forced to resign because of vigorous campaign launched by certain media.

In fact, half a million dollars turned to be costs of eliminating the group undesirable for Chubais. Korzhakov, Soskovets and Barsukov were no longer close to Yeltsin. As Korzhakov claimed in his memoirs, Security Service received reports on “plundering” of the campaign funds. On 19 June1996 Security Service secretly broke open a safe of Deputy Finance Minister German Kuznetsov and allegedly found 1.5 million U.S. dollars there. Korzhakov stated that the amount had been kept there without any documents indicating its source, while payment warrants of the foreign banks were found.

According to Korzhakov, after his resignation Chubais asked Korzhakov’s deputy to “return his 500 thousand”. In 1999 prosecutors dismissed the case.

Source: Riw.ru, 2001

In February 2004, while being a State Duma deputy, Alexander Korzhakov filed a request with the President, the Prime Minister, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the FSB, the Chamber of Accounts and Gazprom company. He reported on the activities of Gazprominvestholding director-general Alisher Usmanov and former department head of Gazprom public company Alexander Krasnenkov.

As Korzhakov stated, he was informed about their arbitrary and lawless usurpation of Gazprom by retired FSB officer and shareholder of Zapsibgazprom Tyumen company Alexey Rudakov. In September 2002 Rudakov sent him a letter.

As Rudakov learned, Usmanov and Krasenkov employed any means to ”prevent Zapsibgazprom from getting improved under external control. To avoid external interference, while having 8 billion rubles payables they reached out-of-court settlement, according to which the company property was to be distrained and sold by auction” .

Krasnenkov Usmanov rejected all the accusations and filed a counter-claim on protection of honor and dignity. Korzhakov was forced to drop the investigation.
Source: Gazeta, 2 February 2004

On 11 January 2010 Yeltsin’s daughter Tatyana Yumasheva posted to Live Journal her own version of the incident “with photocopier boxes “. According Yumasheva, the money found on Lisovski and Yevstafyev was intended for payments to actors who had taken part in the show held in Yeltsin’s support. Businessmen were to convey the money to the recipients.

As Yumasheva claimed, Korzhakov, who controlled Yeltsin’s campaign funds, knew about it and grabbed the opportunity to regain its former influence on the president, having fabricated an embezzlement case. Yumasheva called Korzhakov’s actions “stupidity, baseness and betrayal.”

Alexander Korzhakov replied that he had not controlled the Yeltsin’s campaign funds. “Chernomyrdin, Chubais and deputy Finance Minister Kuznetsov were responsible for that,” he said. Korzhakov added that the operation on the arrest of Lisovski and Yevstafyev had been conducted at Yeltsin’s request, as Yeltsin had suspected stealing money from his funds.
Source: Utro.ru, 19 January 2010

In November 2010 Andrey Bagdasarov, an assistant to State Duma deputy Alexander Korzhakov, was found shot dead at his Moscow apartment. Bagdasarov formerly served as a senior officer in the Federal Protective Service of Russia.

Investigators considered various motives for his murder, including his business activity. However, the most intriguing thing was the fact that Bagdasarov had been a witness of a search of the apartment , where Alexander Tikhonov, the father of lawyer Stanislav Markelov’s and journalist Anastasia Baburova’s murderer Nikita Tikhonov, lived.

Source: Versiya, 11 November 2010

Surname: Kvetnoy

Name: Lev

Fathername: Matveyevich

Position: Director General of JSC “Oskol Electrometallurgical Combine

Biography:

Date of Birth on August 27, 1965

Rogachevo, Moscow region.

Education: Graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Physical Culture in 1989. He graduated from Finance Academy under the RF Government in 1997.

1990-1992 Managing Director of JSC “Pragma-trading”;

1992-1995 Vice-President of JSCB “Montazhspetsbank”;

1995-1996 Deputy Director General of Interfin (the CEO is Alisher Usmanov). Founder of JSC “Financial Consulting and Management”. The representative of the Board of Directors of JSC “Oskol Electrometallurgical Combine “;

1997 Director General of the company “Lukoil-Garant”. Member of the Board of Directors of “AGD Invest”;

1998 Member of the Board of Directors in OAO “Arkhangelskgeoldobycha” and OAO “Lebedinsky GOK”;

1999 General Director of Oskol Electrometallurgical Combine. Member of the Board of Directors of JSC “Arkhangelsk Diamonds”;

2000 Head of holding “Gazmetal”;

2005 Member of the Board of Directors of OAO “Vnukovo Airport”;

2006 Owner of the banks “National Standard” and “Novoroscement”.

Hobbies: History.

Marital status: Married; Has two children.

Source: dirbiz.ru

Since 2006 – the owner of OAO “Novoroscement”

In September 2009, he was re-elected to the Board of Directors of OAO “Vnukovo Airport” (owns the terminal internal lines)

Source: http://www.vedomosti.ru

Dossier:

In 2000 Kvetnoy was involved in the conflict between the structures of Gazprom (Gazprominvestholding and Interfin), controlling the Lebedinsky GOK, and the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Complex (NLMC). Shareholders of LGOK did not introduce the representative of the NLMC supervisory council. At the same time shareholders reduced the number of members of the Supervisory Board, so that Chairman of the Board of Directors of NLMK, Vladimir Lisin could not carry his member into the supervisory board of GOK. Lev Kvetnoy entered it among others, while representative of NLMK, Andrey Leschikov did not.

This combination was performed in order to make NLMK waive the requirements to reduce tariffs on raw materials supplied to it. However, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of NLMK Vladimir Lisin did not to make concessions.

Source: “Kommersant» № 86 (1971) on 17.05.2000

In 2005 Kvetnoy was elected to the Board of Directors of OAO “Airport Vnukovo”. His candidature was proposed by a private shareholder of the company Vnukovo Vnukovo-Invest” to be an independent director. At the time Kvetnoy entered the board of directors, it largely consisted of government officials from Moscow.

Source: “Kommersant» № 125 (3209) on 09.07.2005

In 2006, Lebedinsky GOK (LGOK) purchased shares of “Oskol Electrometallurgical Combine” (OEMC) – so the consolidation of assets began on the basis of mining and metallurgical holding that Alisher Usmanov created. At the time Alisher Usmanov owned a controlling stake of the company Gazmetall controlling LGOK and OEMC, other securities belonged to Kvetnoy and Andrey Scoch.

Source: “Kommersant» № 51 (3382) on 24.03.2006

In the same year it became known that Alisher Usmanov, and Andrey Skoch had bought Kvetnoy’s shares in the LGOK and OEMC to merge the company with assets of Metalloinvest owned by Usmanov and Vladimir Anisimov into the largest iron-holding country.

The idea of its creation came from Usmanov after he had bought Mikhailovsky GOK. But Kvetnoy did not want to become his partner in the creation of the holding. He decided to sell his stake in the GOK and OEMC to the companies by Usmanov and Skoch .

Partnership of Kvetnoy with Usmanov and Skoch started in the 90’s when they began buying up shares of LGOK and OEMC. For a while all three had been partners in Gazprom.

In 2000 they, created Gazmetall along with Gazprominvestholding, GOK and OEMC gave their shares to it. Kvetnoy headed Gazmetall.

In 2005, Kvetnoy were at odds with Usmanov because of the Magnitogorsk Steel Plant. In May 2005, Michael and Lebedinsky GOKs stopped deliveries of ore to the MSP.

Source: Vedomosti from 20.04.2006

This was due to the fact that there was no agreement on the price of supplies. Kvetnoy insisted on the resumption of supplies by LGOK, disagreeing with Usmanov.

Source: Kommersant (Voronezh) № 71 (3402) on 21.04.2006

After Kvetnoy had had his shares bought a subsidiary of OEMC – JSC “OEMC-Invest” he owned gained control over the bank “National Standard”, it served accounts of the companies of the metallurgical holding Gazmetall. Kvetnoy received the bank in exchange for his shares Gazmetall.

Source: “Kommersant» № 171 (3502) on 14.09.2006

Bank “National Standard” was captive and served enterprises of metallurgical industry. Kvetnoy announced plans to turn it into a universal bank, with a broad range of clients.

Source: http://www.vz.ru ot13 September 2006, 15:04

In 2007, due to growth in demand for cement Kvetnoy became interested in the cement business and acquired a controlling stake in OAO Novoroscement “- the second largest industrial enterprise in Russia. Earlier, Oleg Deripaska was interested in this plant, but did not agree on the price. The plant is close to Sochi, which almost guaranteed orders in the Olympics in 2014. However, Kvetnoy will have to compete with Inteko by Elena Baturina, whose cement assets are located nearby.

Source: Journal “Sekret Firmy” № 7 (190) from 26.02.2007

In 2007 the bank of Kvetnoy, National Standard began buying up regional banks. The first purchase was the Volgograd “Russian Southern Bank”.

Source: rbkdaily.ru from 15.08.2007

Soon Kvetnoy announced his intention to buy the company “Gornozavodsktsement”, in which the Basic Element of Oleg Deripaska had been interested also.

Source: Kommersant (Perm) № 150 (3726) on 22.08.2007

In 2009 Kvetnoy after two years became a member of the Board of Directors in Vnukovo again.

Source: AviaPort.Ru from 07.09.2009, 17:42

Previousely, upon having left the council, he retained an indirect connection with the airport: some accounts of OAO Vnukovo Airport and all accounts of “Vnukovo-Invest” had been served by owned by served the Bank “National Standard” of Lev Kvetnoy.

His return had to be at a difficult time for the shareholders. His arrival was associated with a desire to protect shareholders from the Moscow authorities’’ attempts to strengthen influence in the airport.

Kvetnoy replaced the former board member, deputy director general of the airport – Gennady Goncharov.

The Moscow government believed that Kvetnoy and Usmanov are the beneficiaries of offshore structures behind the private shareholders of Vnukovo. But they had been appealed for help only after Vasily Kichedzhi, a new member of the board of directors from the Government, wrote to Mayor Yuri Luzhkov on the need to make a check, assuming that they had been deriving assets from the airport.

Source: “Kommersant» № 165 (4220) on 08.09.2009

According to some reports, Dmitry Baranovsky, one of the leaders of the Solntsevskaya OPG, nicknamed Dima Bely (“White”) had worked for Kvetnoy and Skoch .

There is information that Kvetnoy has intimate relations with the daughter of ex-chairman of the MAPO-Bank, Ananyev.

Source: Kompromat.ru from 30.06.2000

Surname: Skoch

Name: Andrey

Fathername: Vladimirovich

Position: Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation

Biography:

 

 

Born on January 30, 1966 in settlement Nikolsky, Moscow Region; In 1988 graduated Moscow state pedagogical university (MSPU), faculty of Psychology, PH.D; Graduated from Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation.

In 1984 he served in army in reconnaissance and landing troop; was wrestling in David Rudman’s Moscow club “Sambo-70”, gat certificate of mastery, then was training. Subsequently he worked in commercial structures, was the assistant to the general director of OOO Open «Kuznetsov and partners», the assistant to the general director of investment company “Interfin”.

Since 1996 Andrey Skoch is the citizen of Israel.

In 1997 Skoch was the chairman of the Moscow regional lottery fund «Youth Planet», in December, 1997 he unsuccessfully stood in deputies of the Moscow regional Duma from the district including territory of Zheleznodorozhny, Balashihinsky and Lyuberetsky areas. Besides, Skoch proposed the nominee on elections for the State Duma in Mari El Republic. He participated in elections as the president of international fund “Generation”.

In 1999 Andrey Skoch became the deputy director of investments and development of AO «Lebedinsky MPC».

In 1999-2003 – deputy of the 3rd State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the member of Committee on the industry, construction and high technologies. In 2000 became the chairman of Advisory council on metallurgy and mountain-ore industry of this committee.

In 2003-2007 – Deputy of the 4th State Duma of FA of the Russian Federation.

In December, 2007 was elected as the deputy of the 5th State Duma of FA of the Russian Federation. A member of fraction “United Russia”, the president of the international fund “Generation”, honored trainer on sambo-wrestling and judo.

According to “Finance” magazine, his fortune for 2009 was 1.50 billion dollars, and the 33rd place in a rating of Russian billionaires.

Andrey Skoch is married, has seven children, four of them – twins of 1994 year of birth.

Sources: duma.gov.ru, lobbying.ru, viperson.ru, c-society.ru, magazine «Company Secret»

 

 

File:

 

 

In the early nineties Andrey Skoch was one of the leaders of «Solntsevskaya» organized criminal community and had a nickname Scotch Tape. Among criminal communications of Skoch there were named such as the head of Solntsevskaya Sergey Mikhailov (AKA Mihas), Averin brothers, Alexander and Victor – active members of Solntsevskaya criminal community. Together with others Solntsevskaya’s authorities – Kvetnoy brothers, Lev and Vladimir, and Dmitry Baranovsky (nickname White) – Skoch headed the criminal group which was engaged in illicit weapon business. Arms supplies were carried out to Russia from Poland, the Baltic States and Belarus. Legalization of the received incomes occurred by an investment of money resources in processing and a mining industry, through various commercial structures. Skoch’s group with more than 20 former sportsmen and persons with previous convictions supervised commercial banks “Montazhspecstroy”, “Dialogbank”, and also a capital casino “Karusel”. Andrey Skoch was registered as on one of owners of Moscow casino «Arbat court yard».

Source: «New newspaper» № 3 from 1/17/2000

 

In the late nineties press wrote about Andrey Skoch’s participation in showdowns concerning Serpukhov oil base – the enterprise became a dispute subject between «Solntsevskaya» and “Podolskaya” criminal structures. Podolskaya group – the second biggest and influent group after «Solntsevskaya» in Moscow region – went on rupture, despite earlier strong communications between two criminal communities. The conflict occurred because of long dispute on control over Serpukhov oil base. In February, 1998 members of “Podolskaya” group attached a tank farm from grenade discharges, then company “Oka-oil” located there and headed by chairman of the board Andrey Skoch, had to leave the territory of the base and to locate in another place.

Source: «New newspaper» № 3 from 1/17/2000

 

In 2000 in the biographic data of Andrey Skoch published in mass-media, there was an information that he served in research division of KGB which ostensibly was engaged in experimental researches of mass suggestion. There is no any more concrete data on this stage of his activity in open sources.

Source: «Moskovsky Komsomolets» from 3/15/2000

 

In State Duma Andrey Skoch is named as the active lobbyist of metallurgical branch. His desire to be the chairman of Advisory council on metallurgy and the mining industry (the lobbyist organization) became a main objective of Skoch’s coming to politics. Skoch was said to be informally delegated to the Duma by a metallurgical complex of Belgorod – Lebedinsky and Stoilensky MPC, Oskolsky electrometallurgical industrial complex. Then the former minister of an antimonopoly policy Gennady Khodyrev and the representative of the Ural region Zelimhan Mutsoev became his assistants to the Head of council. Council included: Deputy Peter Shelishch, the ex-minister of metallurgy of the USSR, the president of the International union of metallurgists Serafim Kolpakov, the owner of “Severstal” Alexey Mordashov, the head of “Mechel” – Alexey Ivanushkin, “Nornickel” – Alexander Khloponin, SUAL – Victor Vekselberg, Novolipetsk metallurgical industrial complex – Vladimir Lisin, a member of Academy of mountain sciences Evgeny Panfilov, the deputy director of institute in the system of State Science Center Chermet Leonid Makarov.

Source: www. svh-home.zeonweb.ru

 

In 2000 Andrey Skoch came into the view of police in connection with criminal case on charge of the head of “Montazhspecbank” Arcady Angelevich, in the past – the basic treasurer of «Solntsevskaya» criminal group who was accused of plunder over 7 million dollars belonging to commercial bank “Unity”. Andrey Skoch who was registered as the councilor in “Montazhspecbank”, together with Lev Kvetnoy, assistant to Angelevich, was targeted in the investigation as the witnesses. Actually, according to journalists, both of them were “authorities”. During the investigation Angelevich colluded department of economic counterespionage of FSB, and the employee of FSB Vladimir Vanesyan who forced Skoch and Kvetnoy to leave from “Montazhspecbank” was directed to the bank. Lev Kvetnoy was written to declare during investigation that Vanesyan threatened him to put a grenade in trousers. Solntsevsky then left the interest to bank.

Source: “Version” from 4/11/2000

 

Mass-media wrote about a certain conflict in relations of Andrey Skoch and his colleague in «Solntsevskaya» Lev Kvetnoy. In 2006 Skoch, having united with businessman Alisher Usmanov, redeemed shares of Lev Kvetnoy in Lebedinsky MPC and Oskolsky electrometallurgical industrial complex. After this transaction Usmanov and Skoch began to unite the enterprises with actives of “Metalloinvest” in mining-ore holding. For some time all three businessmen were “Gazprom” partners. In 2000 they together with “Gazprominvestholding” created “Gazmetall” where they transferred the share holdings of MPC and ОEMC. Kvetnoy headed “Gazmetall”. In 2005 Kvetnoy had disagreements with Usmanov because of the conflict concerning Magnitogorsk metallurgical industrial complex. Sckoch took Usmanov’s part in this conflict.

Source: “Vedomosti” from 4/20/2006

 

In the State Duma Andrey Skoch lobbied interests of the large alcoholic companies. It was one of initiators of the bill «About modification of the Federal law « About state regulation of manufacture and a turn of ethyl spirit, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products» (regarding introduction of an obligatory denaturizing of nondrinking spirits), brought in the State Duma in October, 2006. The bill obliged manufacturers of methyl and isopropyl spirit which are the basis for substitute production, to denature the production, adding, for example, gasoline. It should bring additional 5 billion roubles to manufacturers of strong alcohol. Apart from Skoch, the deputies Valery Draganov, Alexander Kogan, Yury Medvedev, and Alexey Rozuvan were authors of the bill.

Source: “Kommersant” № 191 (3522) from 10/12/2006

 

In 2006 minorities of OAO «Oskolsky electrometallurgical industrial complex», supervised by Andrey Skoch, businessmen Alisher Usmanov and Vasily Anisimov, submitted the claim to arbitration court of Belgorod about recognition of founders of industrial complex, instead of simple shareholders. Minorities tried to challenge industrial complex privatization. The claim was that in 1993 during the act of acquiring shares and formation of joint-stock company of open type, and then creation on its base of open joint-stock company workers of industrial complex received the status of the shareholder, having lost the status of the founder, though the circle of powers of founders is wider, than shareholders. The court decided that process of privatization ОEMC which took place in 1993, was according to norms of the legislation of that time. Subsequently the group of minorities made the complaint to Voronezh arbitration court, but there the first judgment was upheld.

Source: “Commersant” № 151 (3482) from 8/17/2006

 

In 2010 in a rating of Russian billionaires magazine Forbes named six deputies of the State Duma including also Andrey Skoch. According to Forbes, Skoch is the richest Russian deputy with the fortune of 1.4 billion dollars. At the same time, according to his declaration, Skoch is one of the poorest deputies: in 2009 he submitted data to tax department that he earned 1.7 million roubles, that in his property he has only one apartment with the area of 65,31 sq. m and no any car.

Source: “Newspaper” from 14.05.10

Surname: Berezovsky

Name: Boris

Fathername: Abramovich

Position: Entrepreneur

Biography:

 

 

Born in 1946 in Moscow. In 1967 he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Forestry Engineering, in 1973 — the mechanic-mathematical department of MSU, later defended PhD and doctoral thesis; became a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In 1989 he became CEO of the Soviet-Swiss joint venture LogoVAZ engaging in supplies of software to AvtoVAZ and sales of domestic cars and servicing cars. In 1994, he resigned as general director of LogoVAZ, becoming a chairman of its board of directors.

In 1991 he co-founded the Moscow Independent Broadcasting Corporation (MIBC). In 1993 – the general director and member of the Board of Directors of JSC “Automobile All-Russia Alliance” (AVVA), which was planning to build a new automobile plant on the money of private investors. The project failed later .

In winter 1993-1994, Berezovsky entered the inner circle of President Boris Yeltsin by getting acquainted with Valentin Yumashev, who introduced him to Yeltsin’s daughter Tatyana Dyachenko.

In December 1994, Berezovsky became the first deputy chairman of the board of directors ORTV. In the second half of 1995, Berezovsky and businessman Roman Abramovich created Sibneft. In 1995, Berezovsky became one of the shareholders of MIBC channel “TV-6 Moscow”.

In October 1996 he was appointed deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council, in November 1997 was removed from his post. In the same month Berezovsky became an adviser to the head of presidential administration of Russia Yumashev, and in April 1998 he was appointed executive secretary of the CIS. In May 1998, he was dismissed from his post as adviser to the head of the presidential administration, and in March 1999 — was removed from his post as chairman of the CIS Executive Secretariat.

In March 1997, he became a member of the Federal Commission on the problems of Chechnya, in May – participated in the signing of a peace treaty between Russia and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

In spring 1999, he obtained 75% of shares in MIBC “TV-6 Moscow”; in July 1999 he acquired the publishing house “Kommersant”.

In December 1999, he was elected to the Duma, but in July 2000 – resigned his office as deputy, and began to criticize the actions of President Putin. In late 2000 he went to London in fear of further prosecution on the «case of Aeroflot».

In December 2000, Berezovsky created Civil Liberties Foundation in the U.S. – a charitable human rights organization. In November 2001, he was admitted to the motion of the «Liberal Russia» and elected to its political council.

In September 2003, he was granted political asylum in Britain. Later in the UK Berezovsky had been issued new documents in the name of Platon Elenin.

In summer 2005, Berezovsky changed the direction in PH “Kommersant”, and then sold the shares of PH Patarkatsishvili. In August 2006, Patarkatsishvili sold his PH to Alisher Usmanov, general director of Gazprominvestholding, a wholly-owned by OAO Gazprom.

Berezovsky was married several times and has six children, and many grandchildren. In April 2006 the British newspaper Sunday Times put him on the 68th seat in the 1000 list of richest people in the country with the fortune of 800 million pounds sterling.
http://www.lenta.ru on 11/01/2010

 

Dossier:

 

 

For the first time the press wrote negatively about Berezovsky in connection with his appearance in August 1994 in the board of directors of AvtoVAZ. As reported by the media, Berezovsky and CEO Vladimir Kadannikov in order to establish full control over Avtovaz used the scheme of cross-shareholding. As reported, the essence of the scheme was that the majority of shares in the company was bought by VAZ-controlled firms, including LogoVAZ and AVVA. It turned out that the top managers of the plant became heads of the structures that had kept its shares.

It was also reported that another “invention” by Kadannikov and Berezovsky was schemes of sham cars re-export. Their essence was that the exported vehicles cost less than those that went to the domestic market. But the cars crossed the border only on paper. In fact, they were sold in Russia on domestic prices.
“Profile» № 43 (115) on 23.11.1998

 

Press wrote about the scandals associated with secret service owned by Boris Berezovsky – a private security company “Atoll”. It was reported that this structure provided not only security services, but also engaged in spying, espionage and collecting dirt for enemies and friends of Berezovsky. According to the media, the people of Yeltsin’s inner circle, known as the “Family” appeared in its field of view .

They wrote that in the summer of 1998 “Atoll” of Berezovsky got in the field of view of law enforcement agencies. Employees of DOCU in the Eastern District of Moscow withdrew specialized equipment and materials collected on the leading politicians of the country from the base of the security company . But soon the “Atoll” got its property back.

According to press reports, in January 1999 the General Prosecutor’s Office of Russia opened a criminal case, and repeatedly searched «Atoll».
Source “Moskovsky Komsomolets” on 20.01.99, on 21.06.2006, from 21.06.2006

 

According to the head of «Atoll», the case against his company was terminated. But, according to the media, Berezovsky chose to get rid of it. First, funding for security services was reduced and then stopped altogether.
“Moskovsky Komsomolets” on 21/06/2006

 

Berezovsky’s name ended up in the media in connection with reports about his collaboration with Chechen field commanders about the abduction and release of the hostages in 1996. It was reported that the militants earned money through such a cooperation, while Berezovsky gained political capital. First, as the press was writing, with the help of Berezovsky there were 22 OMON riot policemen released from the Chechen captivity, captured on December 14, 1996 in Dagestan. Shortly thereafter, 11 Chechens were released from the Russian prisons, and then pardoned retroactively. Berezovsky helped to return from the Chechen captivity the NTV correspondent Helen Masyuk, and Plenipotentiary Representative of President of RF, Valentin Vlasov. The entrenched image of a peacemaker was spoiled with the release of a Ministry of Interior of Russia, General Gennady Shpigun. The Chechens were to release him on June 12, 1999. But after the Berezovsky’s intervention in the negotiations Shpigun was killed.
“Moskovsky Komsomolets” of 22.06.2006

 

In late 1996, Berezovsky appeared in the scandalous story related to the assignment of his Israeli citizenship. Media reported that on October 29, 1996 that Berezovsky was appointed Deputy Security Council Secretary, Ivan Rybkin on presidential decree. But then the information appeared he had had citizenship of Israel at the time. Moreover, he received Israeli citizenship in November 1993. Those two circumstances – the new appointment and Israeli citizenship – conflicted with Russia’s law on civil service.
“Izvestia” on 22/11/1996

 

According to press reports, on November 13, 1996 Berezovsky confirmed he did have Israeli citizenship. He said that even before the new appointment, he applied the Israeli Foreign Ministry for annulling it. Press wrote that, according to some reports, there was a falsification of documents. Berezovsky reportedly sent a statement of revocation of citizenship for a couple of months before the appointment. But the documents were lost by the Israeli authorities.
“Moskovsky Komsomolets” on 21/06/2006

 

According to media reports, on November 20, 1996 the Israeli embassy in Russia officially stated that Berezovsky was no longer a citizen of Israel.
“Izvestia” on 22/11/1996

 

The press described the protracted conflict between Boris Berezovsky and Russia’s law enforcement and supervisory authorities.

On November 13, 1998 Berezovsky published an open letter to the FSB director Vladimir Putin, saying the preparation of attempt on his life. Berezovsky argued that in late 1997 the former management of the Office for development and suppress the activities of criminal organizations FSB allegedly instructed its subordinates to kill him.
“Kommersant» № 212 (1615) on 13.11.1998, “Moskovsky Komsomolets” on 23/01/2006

 

On November 17, 1998 Berezovsky organized the ORT press conference in which representatives of the FSB took part, including Lt. Col. Alexander Litvinenko, who later defected from Russia in the UK. FSB officials reportedly confirmed that they had received an instruction from the superiors to eliminate Berezovsky. The same was to occur with the brother of famous Chechen businessman Umar Dzhabrailov – Hussein. Litvinenko also said that they had prepared an attempt on a senior tax official also. As written in the press, the FSB officers asked the public to protect them from the criminal leadership. Media wrote that experts linked that action to the campaign discrediting the government of Yevgeny Primakov.
Source “Profile» № 43 (115) on 23.11.1998 and # 12 (134) on 05.04.1999

 

In 2001, as the press stated, Berezovsky asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Great Britain and announced that Russia’s security services had been preparing an attempt on his life. After that Berezovsky obtained political refugee status in the UK.
gzt.ru № 51 dated 21.03.2008

 

According to media reports, on January 24, 2002 the confrontation between Berezovsky and Russian intelligence services continued. Berezovsky was accused by FSB director Nikolai Patrushev of the financing the illegal armed formations in Chechnya. As reported, in response to those charges Berezovsky declared about the involvement of special services of Russia to the bombings of apartment blocks in Moscow and Volgodonsk in 1999.
lenta.ru citing IUE “Panorama” on 23/01/2006

 

On March 5, 2002 the media reported that Berezovsky was involved in the preparation of a campaign of Chechen bandit formations to Dagestan in the summer of 1999; and also took part in the kidnapping and murder of General Shpigun in Chechnya. Prosecutor’s Office released the statement of an unnamed witness. Reportedly he claimed that Berezovsky had had relation to Chechen separatists, and also maintained close relations in business as well with the Chechen criminal group in Moscow and its leaders – Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev and Movladi Atlangeriev. The media wrote that, according to some sources, Nukhaev and Atlangeriev owned a large stake in the St. Petersburg branch of JSC «LogoVAZ».
lenta.ru citing Demfront.narod.ru from 01.09.2005

 

The press wrote about Boris Berezovsky in connection with the notorious “case of Aeroflot», its investigation began in April 1999. According to press reports, in late 1995 Berezovsky played a key role in the change of leadership in “Aeroflot”; as a result, Marshal Yevgeny Shaposhnikov headed the company. The first deputy general director on commerce in «Aeroflot» became the former director of LogoVAZ, Samat Zhaboev. However, Berezovsky made no secret of that he wanted to take part in the company privatization.
“Kommersant» № 212 (930) on 16.11.1995, “Kommersant-Vlast» # 48 (159) on 26.12.1995

 

In 1999, according to press reports, Berezovsky was accused of illegal business activities associated with Aeroflot. It was reported that on April 6, 1999 Prosecutor General of Russia ordered the imprisonment of Berezovsky and the Deputy Director General of Aeroflot, Nikolay Glushkov. On April 14, 1999 the decision was reversed. According to investigators, Glushkov along with another deputy general director of Aeroflot, Alexander Krasneker, and chief accountant Lidia Kryzhevskaya misled the head of “Aeroflot” Shaposhnikov by persuading him to concentrate 80 % of the free foreign exchange earnings of the company on account of the Swiss company “Andava». According to press reports, one of the founders and major shareholders of “Andava” was Glushkov, and the other major shareholder – Boris Berezovsky.

As the press was writing, in the Prosecutor’s Office opinion 252 million dollars passed through “Andava” in 1996-97. According to investigators, nearly 40 million had been illegally transferred in the Swiss bank Credit Suisse to personal accounts of Glushkov, Krasneker, and Kryzhevskaya.
Source gzt.ru from 15.03.2004, “Kommersant” dated 09/07/2002

 

According to investigators, Berezovsky participated in the embezzlement of funds through his Swiss company Forus Holding. As the press reported, the main part of “case of Aeroflot” had lasted five years and ended with a verdict by the Savyolovsky court of Moscow. Glushkov, Krasneker, Kryzhevskaya, and another helper were found guilty, but on the whole the version of the Prosecutor General’s Office of serious crimes committed by them had been rejected. In March 2004, as reported, all of the four received minimum terms and were released in the courtroom immediately after sentencing. The case against Mr Berezovsky was separated in a special case.
gzt.ru from 15.03.2004

 

According to press reports, in November 1999, Berezovsky was acquitted of charges, and he became involved in the case as a witness.
RIA Novosti on 07/12/1999

 

The media wrote that on October 2, 2001 Prosecutor General of Russia ordered the compulsory process of Berezovsky’s interrogation on the case of “Aeroflot” as a witness . On October 22, 2001 Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov said that Berezovsky would be arrested if one appears in Russia
lenta.ru citing IUE Panorama of the 23.01.2006

 

On July 12, 2007 the Savelovsky court of Moscow began an absent trial of Berezovsky. He was charged of fraud – embezzlement of Aeroflot at 214 million rubles (Part 3 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of Russia), as well as the legalization of stolen money in excess of 16 million rubles (Part 3 of Article 174 of the Penal Code).

Berezovsky refused to participate in the process, even through his lawyers, calling it a “farce”.
RIA Novosti on 12/07/2007

 

As reported, on November 29, 2007 the Savyolovsky court of Moscow sentenced Berezovsky in absentia to six years imprisonment. He was found guilty of fraud, but not of the legalization of stolen funds of Aeroflot.
RIA News of 29.11.2007

 

Boris Berezovsky appeared in the scandal connected with the murder of Ukrainian journalist Georgy Gongadze.

As the press was writing, a former employee of the State Security Service of Ukraine, Major Mykola Melnichenko secretly recorded his conversations when working in the administration of the President Leonid Kuchma. In late 2000 some of the records were made public; that provoked a “cassette scandal” in Ukraine: it was an opportunity to accuse Leonid Kuchma and his closest associates of the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze, as well as – of the pressure on the deputies and judges, and of sales of radars «Mail» to Iraq.
lenta.ru with other links on Correspondent.net on 05/03/2005

 

Media reported that in 2002 Nikolai Melnichenko sold part of his archive to Boris Berezovsky.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta № 261 (3659) from 01.12.2005

 

And in March 2005, Melnichenko turned to Berezovsky for ensuring his safety as he was the last witness in the case of Gongadze murder after the strange suicide of former Interior Minister of Ukraine, Yuri Kravchenko.
Law and Business № 49 (725) on 03.12.2005, Today (Ukraine) # 1993 from 05.03.2005

 

As reported, in April 2006 already Melnichenko accused Berezovsky of films manipulations. According to him, the patron attempted to publish only some parts of the film, hiding the rest.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta № 261 (3659) from 01.12.2005

 

A little later the relationship between Melnichenko and Berezovsky had completely spoiled. The first said that Berezovsky conspired with the senior Ukrainian government in order to rig the criminal investigation of the Gongadze murder. Representatives of the latter accused Melnichenko of the fact he had forbidden to make public records and possibly fabricated part of the transcripts.
lenta.ru with reference to the phrase (Fraza.com.ua) from 05.12.2005 and from 06.12.2005

 

The press wrote about the scandal caused by Berezovsky’s visit to Georgia under a different name. According to media reports, on September 12, 2003 Berezovsky was granted a political asylum in Britain. The London Court dismissed the case for his extradition to Russia. In the same year, British authorities issued a travel document to Berezovsky under the name of Platon Elenin. In December 2003, Berezovsky met with his business partner Badri Patarkatsishvili in Georgia, and then he presented documents in the name Elenin on the border.
Source BBC News, Russian service from 23.01.2004, Kommersant »# 166 (2769) on 13.09.2003,” Nezavisimaya Gazeta» № 40 (3720) of 01.03.2006

 

Newspapers wrote about the Brazilian prosecutors’ interest to Boris Berezovsky.

It was reported that according to unconfirmed reports, Berezovsky managed the company Media Sports Investment (MSI) through his trustee – Iranian Kia Joorabchian, and was the general sponsor of the soccer club “Corinthians” (Corinthians) – champion of Brazilian championship in 2005.
Source Kommersant № 80 (3411) on 05.05.2006 and # 81 (3412) on 10/05/2006

 

According to press reports, in 2005 the Brazilian authorities for combating financial irregularities became interested in the possible involvement of MSI in money laundering. Brazilian law enforcement authorities could not understand what the source of funds was, enabling the company to buy and sell the leading Latin American players (the press called Media Sports Investment the sponsor of the Brazilian soccer club Corinthians).

According to media reports, May 5, 2006, Berezovsky was arrested by theBrazilian police in the airport Kumbika in city of Sгo Paulo, and gave testimonies for several hours. The reason for the detention was a criminal case on money laundering through the football clubs in Brazil.

According to press reports, in September 2006 the Prosecutor’s Office in Sгo Paulo prepared a report, according to which some of the money allegedly laundered through the Corinthians, “in fact belonged to Berezovsky, Patarkatsishvili, and Dzhurabchan (by the time the latter had already left his post as head of MSI).
“Vision” from 06.05.2006, “Labor» № 171 from 16.09.2006

 

Brazilian general prosecutor demanded to arrest the leaders of the investment group Media Sports Investment; it suspected them of money laundering and forming a criminal group. In July 2007, it was reported that the Brazilian court issued a warrant for the arrest of Mr Berezovsky, as well as other co-owners of MSI, including – Kia Joorabchian, and financial director of the investment group “Noyana bedru”. Since all the three at the time had been outside of Brazil, the request for their arrest was handed over to Interpol, and the MSI’s accounts were frozen in all the country’s banks.
ITAR-TASS on 13/07/2007

 

But in September 2008, as the media reported, the criminal case was closed, and the warrant for the arrest of Berezovsky was withdrawn. The press accosiated Such an odd final with the violations committed during the investigation.
lenta.ru with reference to the Associated Press on 17/09/2008

 

The press described a conflict between Boris Berezovsky and another oligarch – Roman Abramovich. According to the press, in the second half of 1995 Berezovsky and Abramovich did not conflict, but instead organized a joint business in the petroleum sector. Abramovich was engaged in organizational matters, while Berezovsky – in lobbying

project in the administration of President Yeltsin.
“Business news” (Omsk) from 27.04.2005

 

According to press reports, in August 1995 “Siberian Oil Company (Sibneft) was established by a decree of Boris Yeltsin.
“Moskovsky Komsomolets” on 02/06/1999

 

It was reported that several companies established by Abramovich and Berezovsky were engaged in the acquisition of Sibneft’s shares – they became winners of investment tenders either independently, or through subsidiaries.
Conflict.Rosbalt.Ru on 14/12/2003

 

Thus, as the press was wrote, the controlling stake in the company cost Abramovich and Berezovsky 25 times cheaper than its market value.
“interlocutor” on 05/03/2003

 

According to press reports, the open stage of the conflict began in July 2005 when Mr Berezovsky announced that he and Patarkatsishvili had received about 1 billion dollars from Roman Abramovich for their shares in Sibneft Russian Aluminum, and ORT. Berezovsky claimed that this sum was far below the real value of securities sold, and announced that he was going to file a lawsuit to Abramovich in the UK.
«Vedomosti» № 121 (1402) from 05.07.2005

 

It was reported that the suit was brought to the Supreme Court of Justice in London on June 1, 2007.
“Kommersant» № 52 (3869) on 29/03/2008

 

On October 6, 2007 press described an incident in one of the trendy shops in central London. Berezovsky found Abramovich there and tried to give him a summons to court. It was reported that Berezovsky gave several papers to Abramovich, but the latter put his hands behind his back, and the papers fell to the floor.

Later, Berezovsky told reporters that that was the agenda. And according to British law agenda is considered to be handed, even if it was thrown at the feet of the recipient in front of witnesses.
lenta.ru with reference to The Daily Mail dated 06.10.2007; IA cursor on 10/07/2007

 

According to the press, the judicial war between Berezovsky and Abramovich has not yet ended. At the moment, reportedly Berezovsky accuses Mr Abramovich that he forced him to sell half of Sibneft at a reduced price – Boris Berezovsky received 1.3 billion dollars for his package, while in 2005 Gazprom paid to Roman Abramovich for that package 10 times more.
wek.com.ua on 11/09/2009

 

Television channels broadcasted a person who introduced himself as “Peter”, and reported that in 2003, Berezovsky allegedly offered him money for false testimony in court. Supposedly Berezovsky needed it in order to obtain political asylum in the UK and to avoid extradition to Russia. “Peter” was asked to pose as an agent of the FSB, who was sent to London to kill Berezovsky. By the words of “Peter”, he declined the offer. But they slipped psychotropic substances in coffee, made an audio record with false confessions, and presented it in court. “Peter” also said that Litvinenko knew the scheme of obtaining political refugee status by Berezovsky; allegedly on that reason he had been killed.
lenta.ru with other links on the “News of the Week” from 08.04.2007

 

Berezovsky, as written in the press, said that the real name of the mysterious “Peter” was Vladimir Teplyuk; he had already been mentioned in the press in January 2006 in the article of the deputy, Alexander Khinshtein. According to that article, in 2003 Berezovsky allegedly intended to use Teplyuk as a fallback for political asylum in Britain. As reported, Teplyuk the initiator of the meetings. He was so insistent that Litvinenko had even begun to suspect him a FSB officer.
Source Kommersant »№ 53 (3629) on 02.04.2007, № 81 (3412) on 06.05.2006, Gazeta.ru from 02.04.2007

 

According to press reports, in March 2010 the High Court in London ruled on the suit of Boris Berezovsky to VGTRK (on the television channel “Russia” in VGTRK which had shown the program “News of the Week” with “Peter”). The Court acknowledged that the program contained false accusations against the businessman who allegedly had been granted political asylum in Britain by deception. Reportedly, Boris Berezovsky was awarded compensation in the amount of 150 thousand pounds ($ 223 thousand). Defendants stated that they intended to appeal the decision.
finansmag.ru on 10/03/2010

 

April 13, 2007, as the press reported, Boris Berezovsky launched a new international scandal. The British newspaper The Guardian published an interview with Berezovsky, in which he declared his involvement in a coup in Russia. Disgraced oligarh accused Putin of creating an unconstitutional regime, power centralization, closure of democratic reforms, and the actual destruction of the political opposition.
lenta.ru with reference to The Guardian, 13.04.2007

 

As the press reported, Russia’s chief prosecutor Yuri Chaika due to the statement by Mr Berezovsky ordered to bring a new criminal case against him.
Gazeta.Ru on 13/04/2007

 

Soon the Prosecutor General of Russia indeed brought criminal case against the entrepreneur under Article 278 of the Criminal Code (violent seizure of power “), providing imprisonment for a term of 12 to 20 years.
lenta.ru with reference to The Times of 16.06.2003

 

However, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Berezovsky of abusing the political refugee status and, based on this, said that Britain should have extradited him.

As reported, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Great Britain also condemned the statement of Mr Berezovsky. By the evening of the same day, Berezovsky softened his stance; he said in an interview with The Guardian that he had not meant the forced overthrow of Russia’s power.
gzt.ru on 13/04/2007

 

On July 18, 2007, the British press once again burst with scandal associated with Boris Berezovsky. The businessman told reporters that they intended to kill him. From the words of Mr Berezovsky, he had been warned by the British police and advised to temporarily leave the country. Berezovsky said that he had been receiving threats for too long, which had been the result of “the Russian intelligence services activities”. On the same day comment appeared in the British press from official sources in Scotland Yard, which confirmed they arrested a man in London, who had determined to kill Berezovsky.
lenta.ru with reference to The Times of 18.07.2007

 

Only in 2008 information appeared in the press that the British suspected the Chechen criminal “authority” Atlangeriev of preparingthe assassination of Berezovsky and deported him to Russia.
“Kommersant» № 62 (3879) of 14.04.2008

 

On July 30, 2007 the press reported on the regular claims to Boris Berezovsky from the Prosecutor General of Russia. The olygarh was suspected of embezzling 13.7 million dollars of SBS-Agro. As reported, the position of the investigation lied in the fact that Berezovsky organized a criminal group, together with which he fraudulently obtained a loan of SBS-Agro in 1997. According to investigators, Berezovsky spent the money on the purchase of real estate on the Mediterranean coast of France. A corresponding criminal case was opened June 29, 2007, and, as reported by Berezovsky’s lawyers, was the eleventh criminal case having brought against their client in Russia. As press wrote, the prosecutors sent a petition for the arrest in absentia of Berezovsky to the Basmanny court.
RIA Novosti on 30/07/2007

 

On August 7, 2007 the Basmannyy Moscow court sanctioned the arrest of Berezovsky in absentia. Judge substantiated decision on the fact that the entrepreneur had had extensive contacts in law enforcement and commercial structures, and might have affected the investigation.
Interfax news of 07.08.2007

 

In autumn 2009 the press reported that the Investigation Committee of the Prosecutor (ICP) charged the political emigrant Boris Berezovsky under article 159 (fraud) and section 174 (money laundering) of the Criminal Code. According to investigators, Berezovsky obviously was not going to return the money to “SBS-Agro”, and brought the money abroad through accounts of the company Forus controlled by him, and then got real estate on the Mediterranean Sea.
http://www.finansmag.ru on 22/09/2009

 

One more criminal case on Boris Berezovsky was associated with the embezzlement of “AvtoVAZ”. According to press reports, in November 2008 the case against Boris Berezovsky and the former director general LogoVAZ “Yuli Dubov was transferred in the Krasnogorsk City Court of the Moscow region. They were accused of theft of AvtoVAZ funds in 1995, and of the legalization of funds derived from the criminal activity. According to investigators, Berezovsky and Dubov had not paid the company for the more than 5.5 thousand Zhiguli cars of different models, set by the plant LogoVAZ, and thus had kidnapped 143.7 billion non-denominated rubles. The press noted that prior to the criminal case delivered in the court, the arbitration courts had recognized that transaction legal.
“Kommersant» № 215 (4032) 26/11/2008

 

Media reported that in June 2009 the Krasnogorsk city court found Berezovsky and Dubov guilty of embezzling the funds of the company AvtoVAZ. Boris Berezovsky was accused of embezzling 58 million rubles from the company AvtoVAZ, and was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment. Yuli Dubov was sentenced to 9 years of imprisonment. As the press reported, Prosecutor General of Russia announced their intention to send a new request to Britain for Berezovsky’s extradition.
BBC News on 26/06/2009

 

According to press reports, in March 2008 the Investigative Committee at Russia’s prosecutors filed a new case against Boris Berezovsky. It was “on the fact of knowingly false denunciation, connected to the artificial creation of prosecution evidence”. Under such an article the petition of the entrepreneur in the UK Ministery of Internal

Affairs had been brought in 2001; he wrote on 96 pages that in Russia he had been persecuted for political reasons, his business had been taken, etc. He pointed out that Russia’s security services were going to kill him. Russia’s investigators believe that Berezovsky did that for the subsequent receipt of refugee status.
“Kommersant» № 46 (3863) on 21.03.2008, gzt.ru № 51 21.03.2008

 

In January 2010, as written in the press, the Basmanny Court in Moscow seized the businessman’s New York apartment. The decision was taken in a framework of the criminal case against Berezovsky on providing false information in order to obtain political asylum in Britain. Boris Berezovsky reacted to news of the arrest by stating that he has no apartments in New York.
trud.ru from 22.01. 2010

 

According to media reports, by the end of January 2010 there have been 12 criminal cases investigated against Berezovsky in Russia. The latter charge was on the organization of a criminal community; he was charged in absentia in September 2009. That charge was a part of the criminal case initiated in 2007 – of theft in the credit bank “SBS-Agro”. In total, reportedly Berezovsky has been charged in absentia over a dozen cases. Those were the accusation of actions aimed at seizing power (it was a series of interview with Mr Berezovsky in early 2006), the illegal acquisition of house and land in Zhukovka in the Moscow area, as well as fraud, money laundering, etc. Berezovsky said to journalists that all the cases against him were just a “political farce”, and forbade his lawyers to participate in any trials in Russia. According to media reports, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia has repeatedly appealed to the British authorities requesting for Berezovsky’s extradition, but the positive response has not been received yet.
gzt.ru on 22/01/2010

 

 


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