MOSCOW and NEW YORK, June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Exiled Russian oligarchs
plot a regime change in Moscow, according to the report by Russian
Information Center circulated at the UN Headquarters in New York and
unveiled earlier in May in Moscow and New York. The 50-page research paper
entitled 'Exiled Russian Oligarchs: Battle for Moscow' claims that "the
notorious oligarchs, who were de-facto rulers of Russia in the 90s, are
preparing a comeback, aggressively trying to revamp their image tarnished
by plundering the Russian economy and ties with organized crime, and in
some cases -- regain physical access to countries like the US, which denied
them visas, vying for support of political forces in the West, soliciting
former and active law enforcement and intelligence officials in Great
Britain, the U.S., Israel, Italy and Eastern European countries with a dual
task of using their expertise and connections to soften official scrutiny
of their shadowy business practices and getting help in undermining the
current government of Russia".
Among the oligarchs whose activities as seen by the Western, Israeli,
Russian and the Ukrainian media were analyzed in the report are Boris
Berezovsky, Mikhail Chernoy (Michael Cherney), Vladimir Goussinsky and
Leonid Nevzlin.
The report provides up-to-date profiles of the exiles, along with the
evidence of "attempts by the oligarchs to enlist support of Western
political elite, building a financial base in the countries neighboring
Russia, .to finance opposition to the Kremlin and establishing routes to
channel funds to Russia".
The paper concludes that the oligarchs are actively involving "western
PR and even covert operations experts' help in undermining current Russian
government".
The full text of report along with additional resources on the subject
are still available at http://www.russianpresscenter.com despite recent
hackers' attacks and attempts to erase all the data from the Center's
websites and replace those with false and frivolous statements. Commenting
on the hacker attacks on one of the group's websites its New York office
director Vladimir Pavlov stressed, that it happened within less than a
month after the Center's first report was posted and in a few days after it
was distributed to the UN media and the diplomats. 'It is absolutely clear
to me that this was done by those close to the oligarchs mentioned and the
preliminary investigation initiated by the Center supports this theory'. In
Pavlov's words this is yet another piece of proof that the oligarchs "would
stop at nothing to achieve their goals". According to the New York office
director, since the report was posted in early May it has been downloaded
more than 200 thousand times.
Highlights of the report, based on analysis of open sources such as
Western and Russian media, on and off the record statements by experts,
businessmen, law enforcement officials and politicians, demonstrate that
the exiled oligarchs, who were de-facto rulers of Russia in the 90s, are
preparing a revanche. On one hand they aggressively try to revamp their
image tarnished by plundering the Russian economy and alleged ties with the
organized crime. On the other, in some cases, - regain physical access to
countries like the US, which denied them visas, vying for support of
political forces in the West, soliciting former and active law enforcement
and intelligence officials in Great Britain, the U.S., Israel, Italy and
Eastern European countries with a dual task of using their expertise and
connections to soften official scrutiny of their shadowy business practices
and getting help in undermining the current government of Russia.
Among the traits highlighted by the media and experts are:
-- Attempts by the exiled oligarchs to enlist support of Western political
elite -- mainly the so called new conservatives, legislators in the US,
British Labour Party officials and Israeli "hawks" -- on the pretext of
an opportunity to get a more "predictable and user-friendly" Russia in
2008.
-- Building of a financial base in the countries neighboring Russia, such
as the Ukraine, Georgia and the former Baltic republics of the USSR, to
finance opposition to the Kremlin and establishing routes to channel
funds to Russia.
-- Getting western PR and covert operations experts' help in undermining
current Russian government utilizing a wide array of techniques ranging
from smear campaigns in the West against the leaders of Russian
political and business elites to possible acts of terror in Russia and
the West to implicate the Kremlin.
The scope of this campaign as highlighted by the media can be
illustrated by the case of Mikhail Chernoy (Michael Cherney) who along with
his brother Leo gained almost full control over Russia's aluminum industry
in the 90s in what became known as the bloody "aluminum wars." While Leo
was in charge of business operations, Mikhail was reported to act as a
liaison with organized crime, which provided "protection" from the
competitors often leaving numerous human casualties after "business
disputes."
Mikhail Chernoy, now living in Israel after the US stripped him of his
visa in 1999, appears to be the hub in a tangled web of connections linking
the Russian mafia, corrupt politicians, Chechen separatists, Russian
opposition and notorious archenemy of the Kremlin -- the exiled oligarch
Boris Berezovsky, who found refuge in London.
Chernoy's activity has recently most noticeably spread to the Ukraine,
where he controls several companies, the largest being First Ukrainian
Development (FUD), which will soon break ground on a $1 billion building
project in Kiev. Ukrainian journalists refer to their country's
construction business today as "the flush pipe of criminal capital," and
indeed, FUD's main office is registered at an offshore location in Cyprus,
while its Kiev office is headed by Efim Borodulin, a man with close ties to
Berezovsky. Chernoy himself flew to Ukraine three times this year on
Berezovsky's personal airplane.
Soon, Chernoy may even be managing the flow of Berezovsky's assets. For
years, Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili has handled this
responsibility, but lately he has chosen to distance himself from
Berezovsky, and experts predict Mikhail Chernoy may soon take his place.
Chernoy began his career as an entrepreneur during the Soviet period
and by the 1990s, he and his brother Leo were in control of Russia's
biggest metal enterprises. Their company, TWG, was a conglomerate of
offshores scattered throughout the world. Any theory as to where the
Chernoy brothers got their start-up capital is pure speculation, but the
press has circulated a version involving a forged remittance slip.
Journalists described a clear division of labor between the two
brothers: Lev answered for the economic and financial state of TWG, while
Mikhail struck deals with anyone who had influence over the business, from
government officials who set quotas on metal exports to organized crime
bosses who sought tribute -- a kind of protection arrangement now known in
Russia as "roofing." Chernoy's particular talent in managing this sphere
led TWG to dominate Russia's metal industry.
European law enforcement has repeatedly suspected Chernoy of money
laundering and mafia connections. He was investigated on suspicion of money
laundering and drug-trafficking in the US, Russia, Switzerland, Bulgaria
and Israel.
In recent years his efforts to regain right of entry to the US have
significantly increased -- Chernoy has been sponsoring the Intelligence
Summit, an annual gathering of former and acting US law enforcement and
intelligence officials; the former FBI agent, who has been conducting an
investigation of Chernoy's illegal activities in the US, was reported to be
on his payroll, and Chernoy is courting members of the US Congress on their
trips to Israel.
As his brother Leo stated in a recent interview to the RBC Russian
newswire, which sounded more like an appeal to the Russian opposition
groups, "the fate of Russia depends on the right, I stress -- right forms
of corporate government; I am confident of this and hope to persuade those
understanding that the clock is ticking."
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