As with the previous article this one shows that Russia is just the Eastern wing of the Jewish World Order cabal. And is marching the Russian’s into the same Globalist slave state they are to the West. With much of the same policies as well.
Putin is also Jewish with a Talmudic scholar for a father:
Putin and his kosher regime has been connected to false flag terror attacks on the Russian population. The Russian version of 911:
Documentary film describes the September 1999 Russian apartment bombings as a terrorist act committed by Russian state security services. Written and directed by Yuri Felshtinsky and Alexander Litvinenko. “We just cannot go out and say that the president of Russia is a mass murderer. But it is important that we know it.”
Russian Intelligence and Islamic Terror
By: Jamie Glazov
FrontPageMagazine.com | Thursday, July 16, 2009
http://archive.frontpagemag.com/read…px?ARTID=35568
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Konstantin Preobrazhenskiy, a former KGB agent who became one of the KGB’s harshest critics. He is the author of seven books about the KGB and Japan. His new book is KGB/FSB’s New Trojan Horse: Americans of Russian Descent.
“Americans generally believe that Russia is as afraid of Islamic terrorism as the U.S. is. They are reminded of the war in Chechnya, the hostage crisis at the Beslan School in 2004 and at the Moscow Theater in 2002, and of the apartment house blasts in Moscow in 1999, where over 200 people were killed. It is clear that Russians are also targets of terrorism today.
But in all of these events, the participation of the FSB, Federal Security Service, inheritor to the KGB, is also clear. The FSB’s involvement in the Moscow blasts has been proven by lawyer Mikhail Trepashkin, a former FSB Colonel. For this he was illegally imprisoned in 2003…”
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Putin is very close on a personal level with the powerful Jewish oligarch Abramovich whom some have called Putin’s protector and handler. As noted many of these people have direct positions within the government as well.
Duma member
“Abramovich was the governor of Chukotka from 2000 to 2008. ” “Abramovich said that he would not run for governor again after his term of office expired in 2005, as it is “too expensive”, and he rarely visits the region. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin changed the law to abolish elections for regional governors, and on 21 October 2005 Abramovich was reappointed governor for another term.” (wikipedia)
Note: Chukotka is impoverished and remote region of RF, yet resource rich and with big potential to oil exporation. Abramovich, who had and still has lots of interest in oil & resources no doubt has spent the time governing Chukotka productively for his business interest. “Sibneft Begins Offshore Seismic Work in Chukotka’s Anadyr Bay
December 07, 2005” source. Sibneft was Abramovich’s company which he later sold and it went under the wing of Gazprom and its CEO Alexei Miller.
Roman Abramovich – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chris Hutchins, a biographer of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, describes the relationship between Russian president and Abramovich as like that between a father and a favorite son; Abramovich himself has stated that his relationship with Putin is a professional business relationship, as signified by his use of the Russian language’s formal “Вы” (like Spanish “usted” or French “vous”) in addressing Putin, as opposed to the informal “ты” (Spanish “tú” or French “tu”).[72]
Source: Roman Abramovich – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Putin saves Abramovich’s US safe haven
By John Helmer
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/JK27Ag02.html
A deal with Kremlin makes Jewish oligarch Vekselberg the richest man in Russia:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news … ussia.html
Next the above Abramovich is the Jew Khodorkovsky the two of them are the most richest people in Russia and in the top level of the Jewish oligarchy in change of Russia. Note Putin got this character out of trouble once the cost was clear:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khodorkovsky
Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky (Russian: Михаи́л Бори́сович Ходорко́вский, IPA: [mʲɪxɐˈil xədɐˈrkofskʲɪj]; born 26 June 1963) is a Russian businessman, oligarch,[2] philanthropist, public figure and author.
In 2003, Khodorkovsky was named Person of the Year by Expert, sharing this title with Roman Abramovich. In 2004, Khodorkovsky was the wealthiest man in Russia (with a fortune of over $15 billion) and one of the richest people in the world, ranked 16th on Forbes list of billionaires. He had worked his way up the Communist apparatus during the Soviet years, and began several businesses during the era of glasnost and perestroika. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he accumulated wealth through the development of Siberian oil fields as the head of Yukos, one of the largest Russian companies to emerge from the privatization of state assets during the 1990s.”
He was arrested on 25 October 2003, to appear before investigators as a witness, but within hours of being taken into custody he was charged with fraud. The government under Vladimir Putin then froze shares of Yukos shortly thereafter on tax charges. The state took further actions against Yukos, leading to a collapse of the company’s share price and the evaporation of much of Khodorkovsky’s wealth. He was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in prison in May 2005. While still serving his sentence, Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were further charged and found guilty of embezzlement and money laundering in December 2010, extending his prison sentence to 2014. Khodorkovsky was pardoned by President Vladimir Putin following lobbying for his release by Hans-Dietrich Genscher, and released from jail on 20 December 2013.[3]”
It pays to be Jewish in Russia. Just like in America:
Kremlin provides bailout to Jewish banker
By Grant Slater November 5, 2008 8:56pm
The Kremlin reportedly dipped into a fund to allow a prominent Jewish businessman and Kremlin confidante to pay his debts.
The Russian government set aside $2 billion for Mikhail Fridman and his holding company, the Alfa Group, that would allow him to pay Deutsche Bank AG, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Fridman, 44, is the first oligarch to receive funds from the account of funds stashed away from Russia’s windfall oil profits in recent years. Russia’s financial sector has not been immune to the global credit crisis, and market turmoil in recent weeks has led to jitters among Russia’s wealthiest.
The loan from the $50 billion fund would allow Fridman to maintain his stake in Russia’s biggest cell phone provider, Vimpel Communications.
Fridman and his Alfa partners founded a Jewish philanthropy group last year aimed at increasing Jewish identity among Russian speakers worldwide. The Genesis Philanthropy Group is still in its nascent stages.
Jews in the former Soviet Union are feeling unease that local funding for Jewish causes may be curtailed as oligarchs lose billions amid the global financial crisis.
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More Jewish Oligarchs who got bail outs from the Russian government just like all the Jewish banker oligarchs in American who received mass bail outs as well:
Deripaska, Oleg (UC Rusal) – Jewish multi-billionaire oligarch, reportedly friendly with Putin and a member of the Kremlin elite.
Vekselberg, Viktor. (UC Rusal) The richest man of Russia 2012. This oligarh of mixed Jewish-Ukrainian rigin is also held a big stake and board chair in bailed out Rusal.
Khan, German (Alfa group) – a Jewish oligarch, also a prominent member of the Jewish congress and a contributor to Jewish and “tolerance” causes.
Aven, Pyotr (Alfa Group) – a Jewish oligarch connected to Putin since early 1990s.
Abramovich, Roman (Evraz Group) – a Jewish multi-billionaire oligarch, reportedly very friendly with Putin, also a statesman in Putin’s Russia
Shvidler, Eugene (Evraz Group) – friend and partner of Abramovich, a Jewish billionaire with a stake in Evraz Group.
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Who rules Russia?
Table of Contens
(last name first)
Oligarchs / Tycoons
Abramovich, Roman. […]probably one of the most famous “Russian” oligarhes in the world. Jew Roman Abramovich is one of the richest (or probably the richest) thieves and criminals in Russia, close friend of Yeltsin and protector/curator of Putin[…]Duma member […] President Vladimir Putin changed the law to abolish elections for regional governors, and on 21 October 2005 Abramovich was reappointed governor for another term.” […]
Aven, Pyotr. Jewish oligarch banker (Alfa Bank, Alfa Group), controls Russia’s largest private bank. $5.4B as of 2013. Connected to Putin and key Putin’s administration officials since early 1990s.
Deripaska, Oleg. Jew […] member of the Board of Directors and CEO of United Company RUSAL, the largest aluminium company in the world and a President of Enplus Group[…] Vladimir Putin with Oleg Deripaska, said to be the richest man in Russia and a member of the Kremlin elite. $8.5B as of 2013. A known buddy of Nathaniel Rotschild. Deripaska is often described as “100% Putin loyalist”, “Kremlin-friendly”, “closely connected to the Kremlin” and even “the oligarch closest to Putin”.
Fedun, Leonid. ancestry unclear (though sometimes believed to be a Jew). Billionaire ($7.1 B), owns one of the most popular football clubs in Russia. Anti-White. Likes Jews, finances campaigns and drives against “xenophobia” and “anti-semitism” in sports (among football fans).
Fridman, Mikhail Maratovich. Jew […] Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Alfa Group Consortium, which is now one of the Russia’s largest privately owned investment groups. In 2011, Forbes assessed his wealth as $15.1 billion, making him the 7th richest man in Russia […]On excellent terms with Kremlin, member of Putin’s Public Chamber; […]one of the founders of the Russian Jewish Congress[…]large contribution to the work of the European Jewish Fund […] developing European Jewry and promoting tolerance.
Gutseriev, Mikhail Safarbekovich . Ingush (* non-Slav, Muslim Caucasus ethnicity) entrepreneur and businessman. […]. His family clan is the richest in Russia in 2013 and recent years. […] after successful deals with Putin’s clans, all criminal cases were terminated and his family business is booming.
Kantor, Vyacheslav Moshe. Jewish “chemicals tycoon” ($2.4B as of 2013), heads Acron, one of Russia’s (and the world’s) biggest fertilizer producers. Known as “Putin’s ally and associate” with “close links to the Kremlin”; he is the current president of the European Jewish Congress and ex-president of Russian Jewish Congress, recognized as “one of the ’50 Most Influential Jews in the World'” and a big time champion of anti-White thought-policing, repression and indoctrination, in Russia and worldwide.
Kerimov, Suleyman Abusaidovich. an ethnic Lezgin born in Dagestan – a non-Slavic, traditionally Muslim Caucasus peoples, similar to Chechens […] a secretive Kremlin-connected Russian tycoon. […]Kerimov sometimes appears to be an extension of the Kremlin, the bankers say […] the things [he does] seem to be in tandem with the government,” said Chris Barter, former co-chief executive of Goldman Sachs’ Moscow office […] Suspiciously (*for a non-Jew) well-connected to the American/global juden-bankster oligopoly circles
Khan, German. […] a leading member of the Russian Jewish Congress […] an active supporter of Jewish initiatives in Russia and Europe […] large contribution to the work of the European Jewish Fund […] aimed at developing European Jewry and promoting tolerance […] On excellent terms with Kremlin. […] Net Worth $10.5 B As of March 2013.
Mamut, Alexander. Jewish oligarch and mafiozi, he has connections in the top levels of government: First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia in Putin’s and Medvedev’s cabinets, Igor Shuvalov, is an ex employee of Mamut’s and they are strongly connected as associates. “He remains very close to the Kremlin and he is understood to be close to Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin”. $2.3 B As of March 2013 (official and publicly known wealth).
Mikhelson, Leonid. Part-Jewish although he doesn’t publicly admit or identify with it. He controls Novatek – one of the most important natural gas companies in RF. $15.4 B As of March 2013. Deals and partnership with Kremlin-controlled Gazprom is a source of much of his fortune.
Prokhorov, Mikhail Dmitrievitch . multibillionaire ($13B as of 2013) of Jewish-Russian-Osetian origin, jew by mother’s side […] politician, and owner of the American basketball team the Brooklyn Nets, and different nickel and gold producing factories in Russia. He is well known for his contempt towards workers and awful working conditions in his factories. On decent terms with Kremlin.
Rottenberg, Arkadiy (and his brother Boris). Jewish billionaire ($3.3B as of 2013, and $1.4B for Boris Rotenberg) and one of the richest men in Russia, personal friend of Putin, his former judo training partner. The huge capital he earned through personal acquaintance with V. Putin, last years he got practically unrestricted flow of budget money.
Shvidler, Eugene. Another Jewish billionaire ($1.3B as of 2013), natural resources tycoon, friend and partner of Abramovich. Together with Abramovich holds stakes in Evraz group – one of the biggest natural resource companies in Russia.
Usmanov, Alisher. Muslim Asian (Uzbek) – Usmanov, who is Muslim, married Jewish Irina Viner,the richest man of Russia and the United Kingdom. $17.6B as of 2013. […]For his economic crimes he was even arrest and imprisoned in the Soviet Union. Today he gets awards of Putin […] has “close links to the Kremlin”. [my note Usmanov looks Jewish himself].
Vekselberg, Viktor. Jew […] the richest man of Russia 2012. $15.1B As of 2013. This oligarh of mixed Jewish-Ukrainian origin is the owner of numerous oil and metallurgy plants of Russia […]On good terms with Kremlin […]
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Lesser caliber non-Slavic (Jewish etc) tycoons and Putin’s pals benefitting from state contracts: Ziyad Manasir , Iskander Mahmudo , Muslim Ziyaudin Magomedov, Aras Agalarov, Armenian Vazgen Gevorkyan
“State corporation oligarchs”
People entrusted with running huge multi-billion dollar state corporations and monopolies, they are somewhere in between an “oligarch” and administration official, and easily a match in influence to a Minister or Deputy Minister.
Chubais, Anatoly. […]Jew by mother’s side[…] was an influential member of Boris Yeltsin’s administration[…] receives awards from Putin and Medvedev, as well as control of multi-billion dollar state corporations – RAO UES and RUSNANO.
Kirienko, Sergey. Jew by father’s side. A prominent liberal and supporter of Putin, was Prime Minister in Yeltsin’s time. In Putin’s Russia he heads Rosatom – a huge state corporation controlling the whole nuclear complex of RF – weaponry, R&D and power utilities – described as “state within a state, a powerful and secretive dominion with an almost limitless access to government funds and no accountability to either the state or the public.”
Officials / Kremlin administration under Putin and Medvedev
Dvorkovich, Arkady. Jew; married to a non-Slav as well – wife is an ethnic Dagestani) […]an economist, was the Assistant to the President (* i.e. Putin) of the Russian Federation since 13 May 2008 til May 2012. In May 21, 2012 he was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister in Dmitry Medvedev’s Cabinet
Fradkov, Mikhail Yefimovich. family of Jewish origin on his father’s side […] Russian politician and statesman who was the Prime Minister of Russia (* appointed by Putin) from March 2004 to September 2007. Fradkov has been the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service since 2007
Kalina, Isaak Josephovich. [..]Jew, […] From 2010 till now – Head of Education Department of Moscow government. […] In 2009-2012 – Deputy Chairman of the Commission under the President of the Russian Federation to counter attempts to falsify history to the detriment of Russia.[…]
Lesin, Mikhail Yuriyevich. Jew. Minister of The press, TV broadcasting and Media under Putin (1999-2004), temporary acting Minister of Culture in 2004, presidential aide and advisor under Putin and Medvedev (2004-2009), Kremlin’s “manager of mass media” and “spin doctor”. Once described as “the most influential personality of Russian television and radio”, his record includes creation of Kremlin-friendly Russia Today (RT), Putin’s election campaign propaganda and much more.
Pavlovsky, Gleb Olegovich. [..]political scientist (he describes himself as a “political technologist”) of jewish origin […] adviser to the Presidential Administration of Russia until April, 2011 […] one of behind the scenes masterminds and image shapers of Putin
Reiman, Leonid Dododzhonovich. father was a tajik (asian muslim), mother was a German (jew?) […]former Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation, Minister of Communications and Information Technologies of the Russian Federation. Leonid Reiman has been numerously rated most influential person in Russian telecom business with personal wealth over $1 bln., according to Finance magazine.
Sechin, Igor. strange looking – […] Russian official, considered a close ally of Vladimir Putin. Sechin is often described as one of Putin’s most conservative counselors and the leader of the Kremlin’s Siloviki faction, a statist lobby gathering former security services agents […] currently is Deputy Prime Minister of Russia in Vladimir Putin’s cabinet. [My note this character also appears in my opinion to be Jewish in racial origin and is called “Darth Vader” by the Russian press].
Shuvalov, Igor. Nothing specific about ethnicity or parents; possibly a Slav. One of the most important officials in Putin’s and Medvedev’s cabinets. Another “oligarchs’ man” in RF government, close personal and business connections with many of Russia’s biggest oligarchs, including Kerimov, Usmanov and, most of all, the Jewish tycoon Aleksandr Mamut.
Yusufov, Igor Hanukovich. Jewish businessman and statesman in Putin’s Russia: 2001-2004 – Minister of Energy, July 29, 2004 to April 8, 2011 – The Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Energy Cooperation, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; currently on board of directors of huge state monopoly Gazprom – one of the largest companies in the world.
Parliament: United Russia party, supporters of Putin, notable M.P.s
Hinstein, Alexander. Jewish member of parliament, from the ruling party United Russia (Putin’s party); member of the Presidium of United Russia – a handful of members who are the top ruling body of the party. Influential and prolific journalist and writer in Russia, advocate of Putin’s government in media.
Slutsker, Vladimir. Jewish multi-millionaire and MP in 2002-2010, prominent member of Jewish social and religious organizations in Russia and worldwide. He and his wife (whom he divorced in 2009) are known as supporters of Putin, Medvedev and United Russia. Naturally, he worked to assist the “worker immigrants” who are “humiliated by the extremists”. Reportedly a buddy of another Jewish oligarch – Roman Abramovich.
Zhirinovsky (Eidelstein), Vladimir. part Jew. Fake “opposition”, in reality controlled by and servile to Kremlin. Fake “nationalist”, neo-sovietist, the only kind of “nationalism” not banned in Putin’s Russia and allowed non insignificant political representation.
Prominent TV and radio hosts
Solovyov, Vladimir Rudolfovich. pure jew […] member of Russian Jewish Congress. He is the lead in the official debates in the parliamentary and presidential elections. […] In addition he’s an active supporter for Putin personally and his party “United Russia”, Solovyov is a frequent speaker at their meeting; hugely influential Russia’s TV and radio journalist, leading pro-government TV journalist, one of the most prominent and recognizeable Russian Federation mainstream TV hosts/media personas
Misc
Lazar, Berel. Chief Rabbi of Russia, and chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities […] member of the Public Chamber of Russia […] Lazar is known for his close ties to Putin’s Kremlin. […] Vladimir Putin signed an edict to honor him with the Order of Friendship. This award is being presented for the contribution made by Rabbi Lazar to developing culture and strengthening friendship between nations within Russia […] At the sixtieth anniversary commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz at the concentration camp, Putin gave a speech. His speech was followed by Lazar awarding Putin the so-called Salvation medal as a symbol of “the Jewish people’s gratitude” to Russia for liberating the camp.
Spiegel, Boris. Jew; MP (senator), pharmaceuticals tycoon, anti-white activist, lobbyist and originator of multiple anti-white, anti-free speech thought crime legislative projects (signed into law and lauded by Putin); according to Jewish press “an oligarch who is closely tied to the Kremlin” and “firmly in the pro-Putin camp”.
The Civic Chamber. […] a state institution with 126 members created in 2005 in Russia to analyze draft legislation and monitor the activities of the parliament, government and other government bodies of Russia and its Federal Subjects. It has a role similar to an oversight committee and has consultative powers. […] The creation of the chamber was suggested by Vladimir Putin. Hard to find a White Slav – not Asian, Muslim or Semite – there
The original article with automatic Russian to English translation: “Putin is Enemy” by A. Saveliev – Google Translate. Without Google Translate: the original article on savelev.ru.
Why Putin is an enemy of Russian nation, Russian patriotic movements and Russian state. by A. Saveliev
I. Putin is an enemy of Russian nation
1. During 8 years of Putin`s reign, number of ethnic Russians in Russia shrinked by 8 millions. Annual demographic losses are the same as in 1990`s, when Yeltsin was in power and when Russia didn`t have huge profits from oil and gas export. Number of officially registered abortions is stable, about 2 millions per year. Quality of medical care significantly dropped, free state medicine is almost destroyed and substituted by commercial medicine. Vast majority of Russian citizens can`t afford it.
2. During Putin`s reign, dozens of people with capitals above $ 1 bln legalized their money. In Yeltsin`s time, there were only 7 people with such capitals. Now their numbers increased tenfold. At the same time, life of at least 2/3 of Russians is still at levels of just physical survival.
3. By changing immigration laws, Putin opened borders for millions of non-white immigrants. Many non-native societies were formed in Russian cities. They are terrorizing local indigenous population with help from Putin`s protégés, who hold all of the key positions in administrations and law-enforcing structures. All protests are stamped by illegal arrests and non-lawful court decisions.
4. Putin de-facto acknowledged an independence of Chechnya and the fact, that 500 thousands of ethnic Russians were cleansed from this region, and also gave amnesty for all bandits and terrorists, who fought against Russia. Some of the terrorists even received the “Hero of Russia” award, the highest award in Russia. Russian refugees from Chechnya didn`t receive any help, although ethnic Checnen “victims of the war” received and continue to receive tens of thousands of dollars per person.
5. Putin systematically destroys Russian culture by giving control over all leading cultural, educational and media resourses to non-Russians or to perverts. Medias systematically destroy traditional morale, discredit Russian history, defile Russian language and substitute cultural examples of Russian classics by low-quality filth. Higher education almost fully turned to be commercial and can only be afforded by a rich minority of the Russian citizens. School education is almost destroyed. In last years, those who leave schools lack even some elementary knowledge.
II. Putin is an enemy of Russian society
1. Putin threw a hurricane of repressions toward Russian social and political organizations: prohibition of books and closing of Russian newspapers turned to be a usual practice. ~ 300 of political prisoners are jailed for their political activities in Russian organizations.
2. Putin destroyed the only patriotical party, “Rodina” (“Homeland”), that entered Russian parliament in 2003. By using non-lawful court decisions, he prohibited this party to participate in regional elections in 2005-2006, and than “Rodina” was destroyed because of the inspired internal coup`d`etat.
3. Putin didn`t let any patriotic organization, concerned with the “Russian question”, to participate in 2007 parliament elections.
4. Putin constantly visits social rallies of the Tatars, Jews, different diasporas of the Asian nations, but he never participated in any such event of Russian organizations.
5. Putin openly supports warm relations with Hasid’s leader Berl Lazar. Mosques start to rise in core Russian cities.
6. Putin created totalitarian party of Russian bureaucrats – the “United Russia”, and leaded her to parliament elections in 2007, thus breaking the non-party starus of a Russian president. This party is ultra-liberal in her core and serves in interests of oligarch groups, that grabbed all of the Russian national riches.
III. Putin is an enemy of Russian state.
1. Putin finally destroyed Russian armed forces ability to defend Russia. Leading military academies were closed. Space military-oriented know-how are selling out, space station “Mir” was sunk in the ocean. Under Putin`s rule, numbers of police forces, dedicated to quell all national-oriented opposition, are twice larger as numbers of army soldiers and at least 3-4 times larger, than number of police (per capita) in the Stalin`s USSR in 1930s. Naval Russian forces were radically shrunk, leading military industries and science were destroyed. Putin send a lot of Russian soldiers and officers, who fought against Chechen terrorists, to jail in order to pay new Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov for an illusion of his loyalty.
2. Putin created strong top-to-down corruption system. Highest ministers and bureaucrats combine their “state service” with “working” in a huge oil and gas export companies, where they receive moneys equal to their official salaries for hundreds of years.
3. Russian law-enforcing system totally degraded and turned into a kind of an organized crime. Criminal activities are common for the special forces (who sell military secrets and fully control all major activities in a foreign trade), courts (who follow orders from the corrupted officials), militia (who takes bribes from citizens at every step), prosecutors (who don`t try to fight with corruption).
4. Putin, with his own decision, gave 200 square kilometers of Russian territory to China, without any needs and lawful reasons for this.
Several of the companies chosen to remake Sochi for the Olympics are owned or co-owned by Arkady Rotenberg, a childhood friend of Putin. News reports and Russian watchdogs say Rotenberg’s Sochi contracts alone are worth more than $7 billion, which rivals the entire cost for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.
Putin Buddy Gets $7 Billion of Deals for Sochi Olympics
By Ilya Arkhipov and Henry Meyer Mar 19, 2013 12:16 PM ET 13 Comments Email Print
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-1 … mpics.html
Related
j !Sochi Mayor Says Olympic Concerns Are Unfounded
Arkady Rotenberg, the boyhood friend and former judo partner of black-belt President Vladimir Putin, already is collecting his winnings from what promises to be the most expensive Winter Olympics ever next year.
Rotenberg’s companies have been awarded at least 227 billion rubles ($7.4 billion) of contracts for the 2014 Sochi Games, according to figures compiled from corporate and government filings. That’s more than the entire budget for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, though it represents just 15 percent of Russia’s latest estimate for the Sochi event.
Those contracts, which number at least 21, include a share of an $8.3 billion transport link between Sochi and ski resorts in the neighboring Caucasus Mountains, a $2.1 billion highway along Sochi’s Black Sea coast, a $387 million media center, and a $133 million stretch of venue-linking tarmac that will double as Russia’s first Formula One track.
“This is a monumental waste of public money,” Stefan Szymanski, a sports economist at the University of Michigan who tracks Olympic spending, said by phone from Ann Arbor. “A small number of people at the top have control of resources and there is no accountability.”
$50 Billion
Rotenberg, 61, is among a handful of men Putin has known since childhood or from his days in the KGB or St. Petersburg government who’ve amassed riches and power during his 13-year rule. Their fortunes have come at times at the expense of men who flourished under his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, and the consequences of the differing wealth pedigrees are on display in Putin’s $50 billion push to prepare Russia for its first Winter Games. The country is considered the most corrupt of the Group of 20 economies by Berlin-based Transparency International.
While Rotenberg and longtime Putin associates such as Gennady Timchenko, co-founder of oil trader Gunvor, and OAO Russian Railways Chief Executive Officer Vladimir Yakunin, stand to gain from Russia’s Olympian largesse, Yeltsin-era tycoons led by Vladimir Potanin and Oleg Deripaska say they’re getting squeezed.
Potanin and Deripaska, the CEOs and largest owners of OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel (GMKN) and United Co. Rusal, respectively the world’s largest producers of nickel and aluminum, have been handed projects that may not turn a profit for years, if ever. Potanin is spending $2.2 billion on the resort where most of the skiing events will take place, while Deripaska is putting $1.5 billion into revamping the local airport and constructing a port and one of two Olympic Villages to house athletes and officials.
‘Commercially Useless’
Rosa Khutor, Potanin’s facility, has missed 14 billion rubles of interest payments on loans from state development bank VEB because it’s been closed to tourists for parts of three peak seasons for test competitions, Sergei Bachin, the head of the project, said in an interview in Moscow on March 12.
The resort, serviced by state-of-the-art ski lifts from Doppelmayr of Austria, was all but deserted on a sunny March 7 because the slopes were cleared for a para-alpine World Cup championship. Rosa Khutor will need to spend another $130 million after the Olympics to convert the facility into a fully commercial operation, Bachin said.
“A lot has been built for the Olympics that is commercially useless before the games and after,” Potanin said last month during a tour of his project with Putin and Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee. “The money has been spent and interest is accumulating.”
Basic Element
The $200 million port Deripaska’s Basic Element constructed to dispatch Olympic building materials is handling as little as one-fifth of the planned volumes because freight traffic has been redirected to railways and roads, making the venture unprofitable, according to the company.
“If investors don’t get any return or government support and in effect lose a large part of the funds they’ve invested in the Olympics, it won’t have a positive impact on our investment climate,” Basic Element Deputy General Director Andrey Elinson said during a March 12 interview in Moscow.
Olympstroy, the state company overseeing Sochi’s transformation, declined to detail the costs of its individual projects. Olympstroy has had four general directors in six years.
The bulk of Rotenberg’s Olympic contracts are held by OAO Mostotrest (MSTT), a Moscow-based company set up under Josef Stalin in 1930 to build bridges across the Soviet Union, according to its website. Rotenberg and partners, including his son Igor, gained control of Mostotrest in 2010, just before the company raised $388 million in an initial public offering.
Putin Link
Rotenberg’s aide said he was unable to comment on his work on the Olympics. Officials at Mostotrest didn’t respond to requests for comment by e-mail and phone, nor did Stroygazmontazh, another Rotenberg company with state contracts.
Rotenberg told the Financial Times in an interview published in November that while he values Putin’s friendship, he’d never abuse it for personal gain.
“I have great respect for this person and I consider that this is a person sent to our country from God,” the newspaper cited Rotenberg as saying about Putin.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said Rotenberg’s success is unrelated to his ties with Putin.
“No friendship can grant you access to Olympics projects, which are very difficult to get because they’re hard to implement and aren’t as profitable as many other construction contracts,” Peskov said by phone on March 15.
Gazprom Pipelines
Rotenberg gained his fortune by selling pipes and building pipelines for state-run OAO Gazprom (GAZP), the world’s largest gas producer. Stroygazmontazh, which Rotenberg owns with his brother Boris, built a gas link to boost supplies to Sochi for 32.6 billion rubles, five times more than first budgeted, according to Olympstroy and government data.
The Rotenberg brothers are now worth $2.97 billion each, more than all but 35 Russians, Moscow-based CEO magazine estimated last month. That’s up from $1.75 billion each in 2011.
The controlling stake in Mostotrest (MSTT) that the Rotenbergs held via their 68.5 percent interest in Cyprus-based Marc O’Polo Investments Ltd. declined to 38.6 percent after the IPO, according to the company.
Mostotrest “somewhat disappoints investors with its annual performance forecasts,” said Elena Sakhnova of Moscow-based VTB Capital. Even so, Sakhnova is one of 12 analysts with a “buy” rating on the company’s stock, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “Mostotrest gets very good contracts, not without Rotenberg’s help,” she said.
Shares Rise
Mostotrest shares closed up 0.1 percent at 136.83 rubles in Moscow, after gaining as much as 1.9 percent on the benchmark ruble-denominated Micex Index.
The largest single Olympic contract for the $8.3 billion rail-highway link went to state-run Russian Railways, which then hired Mostotrest and a company now part-owned by Putin ally Timchenko, SK MOST, among other contractors. Russian Railways’ pension fund owns 25 percent of Mostotrest.
Putin, 60, has fought to host global events to raise Russia’s international profile and boost growth through state and privately funded infrastructure projects, including last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vladivostok.
The Audit Chamber, Russia’s budget watchdog, last November said it found that about $490 million of the $20 billion Russia allocated for the APEC summit was “improperly spent.” About $506 million has been misspent in Sochi thus far, the watchdog said this month, declining to be more specific.
‘Rough Estimate’
Russia in September doubled its forecast for spending on the 2018 soccer World Cup to almost $20 billion, a figure Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko called a “rough estimate,” according to state news service RIA Novosti. Brazil’s Sports Ministry last year said it planned to spend 30 billion reais ($15.1 billion) on projects linked to its staging of the 2014 World Cup.
Putin, who has repeatedly vowed to crack down on corruption, last month fired the vice president of the Russian Olympic Committee, Akhmed Bilalov, saying his brother’s company, which had the contract for the ski-jumping complex, was over budget by a factor of seven and behind schedule.
“The main issue is to be sure nobody steals anything,” Putin said Feb. 6 before the announcement of Bilalov’s dismissal.
Three days earlier, Rotenberg’s Mostotrest said it would seek to sell its Engtransstroy unit, which has at least four unfinished Olympics contracts, including the Formula One track.
Road Contracts
Bilalov, who has since left Russia, started having trouble in 2011, when organizers told him to spend what would amount to $200 million on roads and other works that weren’t in the contract once held by his family’s company, according to his representative in Moscow. Bilalov denies costs jumped sevenfold, saying they only increased 60 percent, according to the representative, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Police have announced one major case of financial fraud related to the Olympics. That was last August, when the Interior Ministry put out a brief statement saying investigators had foiled a plot to embezzle 8 billion rubles. No details were provided. The ministry and the Prosecutor General’s Office in Moscow didn’t respond to requests for comment on corruption in Sochi.
“The cost overruns are due to corruption, the clan system and a lack of competition,” said Sochi native Boris Nemtsov, a deputy prime minister under Yeltsin and a political opposition leader who tracks government spending. “All the main contractors in the Olympics are people close to Putin.”
Cost Overruns
Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov, who defeated Nemtsov in his 2009 election with 77 percent of the vote versus 14 percent, said spending concerns are unfounded because any “wrongdoing” is quickly discovered and halted by authorities.
“Some people have latched onto the rising costs, but that can happen because of unforeseen circumstances,” Pakhomov said in an interview in his office March 6. “There won’t be any witch hunts after the Olympics.”
Money wasn’t an issue later that night at the Blue Sea, a trendy Sochi eatery where vintage Louis Roederer Cristal Rose champagne goes for $1,600 a bottle and a basic crab dish can set you back $300. The seafront restaurant was packed with well-coiffed women laden with furs and gems, a reflection of the extravagance transforming this former Soviet city of 343,000. Outside, trucks full of materials continued to inch toward their Olympic destinations, spreading clouds of dust.
For Gurban Babayev, though, there’s nothing to celebrate. Babayev, who operates a small fleet of motorized cranes, says he’s been chasing Olympics subcontractors for $65,000 in unpaid bills for more than a year, including $6,500 from a unit of Rotenberg’s Mostotrest.
Even with a court ruling, seen by Bloomberg, ordering one of the subcontractors to pay up, Babayev said he still can’t find anyone in authority to help him collect.
“You can’t go against a presidential project,” Babayev said. “This is so bitter for my soul. I earned this money with my blood.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Ilya Arkhipov in Moscow at [email protected]; Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@
-High Priest Mageson666