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Couple of bits of news from Muscovy this last week... First the International Criminal Court (ICC) released a report on Tuesday (pdf here; https://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/otp/...rep-PE_ENG.pdf) classifying the illegal Muscovite occupation of Crimea as "occupation"; "According to information received, the situation in the Crimea and Sevastopol is equivalent to the international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian federation...The Russian federation employed members of its armed forces to gain control over parts of the territory of Ukraine without the consent of the government of Ukraine." Oh dear... Result? Next day Putin ordered his underling to withdraw Muscovy's signature to the Rome Statute 1998 that formally set up the ICC (they never actually ratified their signature). The statement said "The International Criminal Court has not justified hopes placed upon it and did not become a truly independent and authoritative judicial body". In others words "you're biased and part of the grand conspiracy to surround us/steal our oil and gas etc" or to be more accurate the War Criminals hope to escape justice by not recognising the authority of the court - the Charles l defence as it were. Didn't save Charles l.
Almost at the same time as this ICC business was continuing the Muscovite Economic Development Minister, Alexei Ulyukayev, was fired and arrested for taking a bribe, allegedly $2m. This is where the plot starts to get complicated for those not used to 'Putinspeak'. The deal involved in the alleged corruption case involved the 'privatisation' of an oil company called Bashneft...
Well Bashneft was (until 2014) in private hands being owned (via another company called Sistema) by a loyal oligarch called Vladimir Yevtushenkov who was then arrested out of the blue amid allegations that Sistema's take over was not done properly and that Bashneft was used for money laundering operations - quite an ironic accusation considering his accusers. At the time some compared it to Yukos (the Khodorkovsky business). Of course it is quite likely that Yevtushenkov had not followed all the rules in acquiring Bashneft and was almost certainly money laundering somewhere but this sort of 'entrepreneurship' does not usually mean arrest in this system unless someone wants something and has a 'roof' (krysha) - meaning higher connections and 'political insurance' - than you; in this case the obvious 'shark', as in the Yukos case, was Igor Sechin, ex KGB, old pal of Putin's and Viktor Bout, leading 'siloviki' and boss of state owned oil company Rosneft. So Yevtushenkov was charged with this, that and the other but being a sensible guy did not fight the case as Khodorkovsky had done. Result was that all his shares in Bashneft got taken into Government ownership and Yevtushenkov was cleared of all charges. Of course one could ask why, if he was not guilty, were his assets not returned to him and the truth is that this was a deal of sorts, just not exactly a fair one - Yevtushenkov was compensated but it was considered wiser (and cheaper) to use the normal mafiosi tactics; accept this or...
So to move onto the latest part of this farce Bashneft, having been stolen back in 2014, is now being 'privatised', by which they mean bought by another (70%) state owned oil company... Igor Sechin's Rosneft. The plan is that part of Rosneft (19.5%) will then itself be 'privatised'... here another ingenious use of the word is meant though rather than the 'privatisation' of one state controlled asset by selling it to another as in the Bashneft 'privatisation'. The 'privatisation' of the 19.5% stake in Rosneft - as the percentage implies - will entail Rosneft buying 19.5% of it's own shares from the 70% Government owned stake. The Government (Putin) still keeps control of Rosneft (50.5% stake) but gets a pay off of between $10 to $11bn but first they want Bashneft, which the Government effectively stole back in 2014, to be part of the deal so Bashneft 'privatisation' has to go through first. Sechin gets a bigger empire from which to steal and the Government/Putin get's a kick back and keeps control; successful 'privatisation' for all.
Of course whether it's true or not that Alexei Ulyukayev demanded a $2m payment from Sechin to sign off the Bashneft deal is doubtful. It's pretty clear to all that Sechin's 'krysha' goes to the top of the gang and as some have said anybody who threatens Sechin shouldn't be arrested -- they should be committed. There are also problems with the details of the case as well... It seems that the pay off that it is alleged Ulyukayev demanded was deposited in some account but not picked up. It's quite possible of course that he never knew anything about it and that is why he failed to pick up the alleged bribe... it won't help him though.
In regards to who Ulyukayev is you have to have some idea of the 'factions' within the Muscovite establishment. There are those in Moscow who urge economic 'liberalisation'... The economics Ministries, specialists, think tanks etc of course have good reason for worrying about the economy; the standard of living is falling badly and not expected to rise again until 2030 according to a recent report and Muscovite wealth inequality is the highest in the world. They argue that to stay in power some dispersal of economic assets - real 'de oligarchisation' etc - and investment in new industries rather than reliance on oil and gas sales is necessary. Ulyukayev is regarded as belonging to this loose group of people along with others such as Alexei Kudrin, a former economic Minister now 'rehabilitated' and head of an 'economics council'. His 'resignation' back in 2011 was in itself telling;
Opposed to these 'economic reformers' are of course the oligarchs and the general mafiosi of which Sechin and his fellow siloviki (literally meaning something like person who uses force) of which Sechin is regarded as one of if not the leader. Others being Sergei Ivanov, fired as Chief of Staff in August, ex KGB, ex Minister of Defence etc, Viktor Ivanov; again ex KGB and until recently head of FSKN 'controlling' anti narcotics - a very lucrative post - and border police (see https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/...r-ivanov-52936) etc etc etc but in general for 'siloviki' read ex KGB and long time St Petersburg cronies. Obviously recently with the disposal of two senior 'siloviki' the Sechin deal with the whole Bashneft/Rosneft business, along with the head of one of the 'economic reformers' thrown in could be seen as an attempt to equalise the 'factions'. Alexei Navalny, quite well known in Muscovy for his corruption investigations views it as a means to keep everyone on their toes, not knowing who might be next; (english subtitles)
Effectively what the whole business signifies is an increasing paranoia and desperation in my view. I do not doubt that Ulyukayev was doing something illegal somewhere - as indeed in all likelihood was Yevtushenkov but in a system where that is the normal way of 'doing business' they were picked on for a reason. Maybe they just had not payed enough - it's possible though unlikely as they would never have got to where they were without understanding the system and what they had to do to survive. A new form of the old KGB called the State Security Service/MGB is to return and the 'National Guard', answerable only to the President, under Putin's former bodyguard Viktor Zolotov; in effect a private army. Effectively both these new organisations, answerable only to Putin, steal powers from the former - some still existing such as the Ministry of Interior which ran the FSKN - authorities. Why do this and purge people like Ulyukayev, the Ivanovs etc seemingly willy nilly? Just in case... You can own 'yachts' and palaces worth billions, arrange the polls to approve you 100% but when you are effectively the head of a Nationalised Mafia you cannot trust your friends.
Some Ladies 'on holiday' on Sechin's yacht the Princess Olga.
Almost at the same time as this ICC business was continuing the Muscovite Economic Development Minister, Alexei Ulyukayev, was fired and arrested for taking a bribe, allegedly $2m. This is where the plot starts to get complicated for those not used to 'Putinspeak'. The deal involved in the alleged corruption case involved the 'privatisation' of an oil company called Bashneft...
Well Bashneft was (until 2014) in private hands being owned (via another company called Sistema) by a loyal oligarch called Vladimir Yevtushenkov who was then arrested out of the blue amid allegations that Sistema's take over was not done properly and that Bashneft was used for money laundering operations - quite an ironic accusation considering his accusers. At the time some compared it to Yukos (the Khodorkovsky business). Of course it is quite likely that Yevtushenkov had not followed all the rules in acquiring Bashneft and was almost certainly money laundering somewhere but this sort of 'entrepreneurship' does not usually mean arrest in this system unless someone wants something and has a 'roof' (krysha) - meaning higher connections and 'political insurance' - than you; in this case the obvious 'shark', as in the Yukos case, was Igor Sechin, ex KGB, old pal of Putin's and Viktor Bout, leading 'siloviki' and boss of state owned oil company Rosneft. So Yevtushenkov was charged with this, that and the other but being a sensible guy did not fight the case as Khodorkovsky had done. Result was that all his shares in Bashneft got taken into Government ownership and Yevtushenkov was cleared of all charges. Of course one could ask why, if he was not guilty, were his assets not returned to him and the truth is that this was a deal of sorts, just not exactly a fair one - Yevtushenkov was compensated but it was considered wiser (and cheaper) to use the normal mafiosi tactics; accept this or...
So to move onto the latest part of this farce Bashneft, having been stolen back in 2014, is now being 'privatised', by which they mean bought by another (70%) state owned oil company... Igor Sechin's Rosneft. The plan is that part of Rosneft (19.5%) will then itself be 'privatised'... here another ingenious use of the word is meant though rather than the 'privatisation' of one state controlled asset by selling it to another as in the Bashneft 'privatisation'. The 'privatisation' of the 19.5% stake in Rosneft - as the percentage implies - will entail Rosneft buying 19.5% of it's own shares from the 70% Government owned stake. The Government (Putin) still keeps control of Rosneft (50.5% stake) but gets a pay off of between $10 to $11bn but first they want Bashneft, which the Government effectively stole back in 2014, to be part of the deal so Bashneft 'privatisation' has to go through first. Sechin gets a bigger empire from which to steal and the Government/Putin get's a kick back and keeps control; successful 'privatisation' for all.
Of course whether it's true or not that Alexei Ulyukayev demanded a $2m payment from Sechin to sign off the Bashneft deal is doubtful. It's pretty clear to all that Sechin's 'krysha' goes to the top of the gang and as some have said anybody who threatens Sechin shouldn't be arrested -- they should be committed. There are also problems with the details of the case as well... It seems that the pay off that it is alleged Ulyukayev demanded was deposited in some account but not picked up. It's quite possible of course that he never knew anything about it and that is why he failed to pick up the alleged bribe... it won't help him though.
In regards to who Ulyukayev is you have to have some idea of the 'factions' within the Muscovite establishment. There are those in Moscow who urge economic 'liberalisation'... The economics Ministries, specialists, think tanks etc of course have good reason for worrying about the economy; the standard of living is falling badly and not expected to rise again until 2030 according to a recent report and Muscovite wealth inequality is the highest in the world. They argue that to stay in power some dispersal of economic assets - real 'de oligarchisation' etc - and investment in new industries rather than reliance on oil and gas sales is necessary. Ulyukayev is regarded as belonging to this loose group of people along with others such as Alexei Kudrin, a former economic Minister now 'rehabilitated' and head of an 'economics council'. His 'resignation' back in 2011 was in itself telling;
Opposed to these 'economic reformers' are of course the oligarchs and the general mafiosi of which Sechin and his fellow siloviki (literally meaning something like person who uses force) of which Sechin is regarded as one of if not the leader. Others being Sergei Ivanov, fired as Chief of Staff in August, ex KGB, ex Minister of Defence etc, Viktor Ivanov; again ex KGB and until recently head of FSKN 'controlling' anti narcotics - a very lucrative post - and border police (see https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/...r-ivanov-52936) etc etc etc but in general for 'siloviki' read ex KGB and long time St Petersburg cronies. Obviously recently with the disposal of two senior 'siloviki' the Sechin deal with the whole Bashneft/Rosneft business, along with the head of one of the 'economic reformers' thrown in could be seen as an attempt to equalise the 'factions'. Alexei Navalny, quite well known in Muscovy for his corruption investigations views it as a means to keep everyone on their toes, not knowing who might be next; (english subtitles)
Effectively what the whole business signifies is an increasing paranoia and desperation in my view. I do not doubt that Ulyukayev was doing something illegal somewhere - as indeed in all likelihood was Yevtushenkov but in a system where that is the normal way of 'doing business' they were picked on for a reason. Maybe they just had not payed enough - it's possible though unlikely as they would never have got to where they were without understanding the system and what they had to do to survive. A new form of the old KGB called the State Security Service/MGB is to return and the 'National Guard', answerable only to the President, under Putin's former bodyguard Viktor Zolotov; in effect a private army. Effectively both these new organisations, answerable only to Putin, steal powers from the former - some still existing such as the Ministry of Interior which ran the FSKN - authorities. Why do this and purge people like Ulyukayev, the Ivanovs etc seemingly willy nilly? Just in case... You can own 'yachts' and palaces worth billions, arrange the polls to approve you 100% but when you are effectively the head of a Nationalised Mafia you cannot trust your friends.
Some Ladies 'on holiday' on Sechin's yacht the Princess Olga.
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