(официальный перевод статьи в "Однако")
Section: Politics
TASS is Not Authorized to State Anything
How the RF has lost a VP position at the EBRD and let its guy to be set up.
Intrigues
The EBRD Director from the RF Elena Kotova found herself in a situation, which could be well used to describe a typical American special operation of a “mediocre level”. As well as an example of what we must not do, if we want to promote our guy – and respectively our influence and our positions – in the area where the world financial funds are being distributed.
ELENA KOTOVA served as a Director from the RF (member of the Board of Directors at the European bank for Reconstruction and Development) since 2005. The word “served” is the right one, not “worked”, because she was appointed to this position by the RF Government under Mihkail Fradkov. In other words, by the President Putin. Kotova’s experience in international banking was (and remains) totally adequate for this diplomatic appointment.
Status quo was broken in autumn 2009, when the EBRD President Thomas Mirow announced officially that a position of a VP in charge of the relations with the countries of operations is becoming vacant. Preferences regarding the candidate were clearly expressed: from countries of operations and a woman.
EBRD: what it is and what’s appropriate there
EBRD was founded in 1991 with a declaration to support development of the market economy in the countries of the former USSR and of the socialist camp. 63 countries participate in the bank’s capital, USA hold the largest share - 10%, Germany, Japan, Italy, Great Britain and France – 8,65% each. Sub-total 53,52%/ Russia has 4%. In 2009 around 70% of the loan portfolio was in Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. In other words up to 70% of its profit the bank receives from these countries. These countries by their joint decision officially nominated Elena Kotova for the to-be-vacant position during the period of November 2009-January 2010.
Let’s make it clear. It is the President of the EBRD, who appoints his own VP, it is entirely his competence. Hence, taking into account the wishes, the nominations whether from key shareholders or from key beneficiaries – all this is merely his “good will” and desire to ensure the right political balances. In other words, a sacred and untouchable theme.
What kind of balances do we have here? During all times of the bank’s existence its presidents were three Frenchmen and two Germans (see the shareholding!). The first VP – always an American (the person, who in fact distribute the loan portfolio). Vice-president in charge of the relations with the countries of operations – always a representative of the Eastern Europe – countries, which has been so much oppressed by the Soviets. Budgetary revenues are received by the treasury of London.
A Russian Woman among the Beauties
In October 2009 in a way quite common for such diplomatic issues, i.e. over a business lunch, in an informal, but quite unambiguous manner Kotova informed Mirow about her intention to become a vice-president. Mirow liked this intention. Nevertheless, he made it clear that this is undesirable. Why? You lack the status, dear miss Kotova. In the Russian hierarchy Kotova holds a rank of a deputy minister. And President Mirow, at home in Germany, was the deputy minister of finance. So, did he get confused, lost in the issues of ranks and seniority? Hardly.
His deliberate “mistake” contains a message, as our American friends like to call it, a political signal. Or, using our own language – an invitation to reflect, to stop acting and to start thinking about your role, about how it looks from the other side. Translation from a diplomatic to an ordinary language, reads: “Ms. Kotova, your government does not understand that what it wants, is entirely inappropriate. But you, you are here, one of us, and not for the first year. You can talk them out. Just refuse, don’t get involved into this. And you’ll earn brownie points with us”.
In December of the same, 2009, appealing to her common sense continued, now it was the turn of the human resources VP (another German), because the process has already turned into a boring procedural routine. All is jolly good, but, unfortunately, just a small detail there, however, this wrinkle cannot be overcome. Half a year of a cooling period is required, and you don’t have it. There were, in fact, precedents, when this requirement has been quite liberally dealt with, but not in our case. This “message” marked the end of the “peaceful” part of the EBRD President office’s defence against Russian invasion.
Worth mentioning, that there have been yet other warnings, which was difficult not to understand. Washington invited Elena Kotova and during 3-5 March 2010 she participated in consultations in the State Department, Treasury and with the Adviser to Obama on G8/G20 process. She received the same advice, now really “from the horse’s mouth”: “Stay away!” After this it was only a technical matter for the specialists to clean up the garbage. But Elena learned about this only significantly later. What did our secret services know about this, and if at all – remains a mystery.
Operation “Foreclosure”
Starting April 2010 in Elena’s office breakages and disruptions of her hard drive occurred regularly. Subsequently, Mondays were starting with a visit of an IT specialist. It’s quite a trivial way and common practice when one has to retrieve all information, while by-passing require, legitimate procedures.
Only on 1 July 2010 the bank internal financial police – compliance – started a formal internal investigation. Compliance department has been headed for almost nine years by another American – Quinnones. She had no intention to do the work herself or just to use her own office, and hired (probably to make all of this look more objective) a well-known, one can say, famous hunter for heads of financial criminals, from the US as well. A person with a telling last name – Mendelsohn – in not so distant past an employee of the FBI, investigator on most serious crime matters of the Department of Justice. According to the most modest estimates, the bank paid around 2.5 mln dollars for this “outsourcing”.
Why do we need the dates of the key episodes of the Kotova operation against here, what do they tell us? Albeit they internal and external prosecutors looked through all deals, through her entire computer for the entire period of her work as a director (two terms), they failed to collect enough “material”. Look, had they been lucky to catch a “golden fish”, her diplomatic immunity would have been lifted overnight, and she would have been having good time under investigation but in London jail ever since. But they failed to dig out anything significant either by the time of the appointment for the vacant VP position, or even months later. Only on 15 September 2010 Kotova learned for the first time from Mendelsohn letter to her about an inquiry, which has been by that time in fact finished. And even this letter was sent just because without her involvement and her words, Mendelsohn could not cook anything, holding the water.
Methods used were quite proven and well familiar to us from our own history – complaint/defamation and provocation. A certain gentleman, Chernikov, Canadian businessman with Russian citizenship informed the “appropriate” people that she elicited a bribe from him. And in order to support this – conducted a long telephone conversation of a dubious nature over Kotova’s office landline, i.e. on the records of the bank security. This is a well-known technique. If you refuse to talk – it means that you are prejudiced against the loan applicant. If you agree to talk – it means you want a bribe. It’s up to you to decide. In such matters always dominates presumption of guilt. And why would a bank need an employee, particularly a vice-president, who is now obliged to prove her innocence?
In June 2010 without scandals and discussions the vacant VP position was filled in. Jan Fischer the Prime-Minister, Czheck Republic was appointed. We have nothing critical to say about him, however, he does not look like a woman. And Czheck Republic is not a country of operation.
The Most Important is to Leave a Stinky Residue
Mendelsohn bulky report on “Kotova Matter” was accurately stored within the bank. But not only there. The report itself has not revealed anything criminal – maybe there was not enough time. Therefore, it was important at least to arrive at a conclusion that Kotova has violated the procedures of the bank, procedures related exclusively to the business ethic.
As for “relations” between Kotova and Chernikov – it was already quite plausible to examine them within the legal framework of the Great Britain – as an attempt to receive a bribe. Following the unsophisticated, typical carbon copy schemes, American “rangers” dumped everything which they were able to collect through looking into corners and floor-ditches of Kotova’s office upon the desks of the nearest to the bank “district London police station”. There, “on the ground” the matter was taken over with enthusiasm. Never mind that the English failed to put in jail the “Litvinenko’s assassin”, maybe this time they will succeed in “locking in” a Russian diplomatic official? And all her office as well. Just to top it up.
Presumption of guilt together with paranoid suspicions in money-laundering (this allegation is by definition applicable to any Russian “bandit”, i.e. to any Russian who aims to achieve something really meaningful in the West) allows to tie up our hostages for years with the help of an obscure criminal matter. Never mind, if at the end the stolen spoons would be found. A stinky residue will stay nonetheless.
It is precisely in order to form this residue, that actions were taken, which otherwise were quite excessive and unnecessary compared to a simple explanation why the EBRD President rejected the Russian request for a position. On the field, where the Russians dared to attempt to put “their guy” on “our” territory, we must leave nothing but a burned-down soil. So that never again Russians could be tempted... Otherwise, we, in this case, Russians, may, indeed, believe that “development of the market economy” is about economics, not politics.
It goes without saying that in order to “lock-in” our people, it is necessary first to lift the immunity of Kotova and her staff. In order not to allow any requests from Britain for extraditing Kotova et.al, the RF itself on the 18th of January 2011 requested the EBRD Board of Directors (it is the Board’s competence) to waive Kotova’s immunity. The immunity, by the way, which is a life-time one. And in order to request this, it was necessary to launch in the RF a criminal investigation as well, on a suspicion of attempting a commercial pay-off.
I do hope that this case in Russia has gloomy prospects. Mendelsohn report is highly prejudiced, all conclusions are mostly assuming, it is admitted that there is no proof or direct evidence. The Russian investigation could hardly make any use of it within the criminal proceedings.
Besides this, a feature of a commercial pay-off needs to be a receipt of money or another benefit by an official (or a proven possibility of a receipt) in relation to a clear and definite action. Commercial pay-off (as well as a bribe) most typically can be proven, when a person is caught by the hand, no other ways are indisputable. There is nothing even close to this in our story.
Commercial pay-off or eliciting a bribe requires a full clarity of the parties’ intentions. An official/manager defines clearly what for he will receive a pay-off, and the “damaged side” knows equally well, what he is paying for. In Kotova case all of this does not exist. There is no even a person to whom a damage has been incurred. Kotova did not have either authority or influence in the bank, which were sufficient for changing the procedure of a loan approval in favour of a certain loan applicant. Even if she wanted to help really badly, she would not have been able to influence the management at a decisive point – when a decision to approve a loan is made by a loan committee. EBRD management is separated by a wall from the representatives of the countries and reports not to them, but to the President. The latter has the authority which the Board does not.
... There are People to Work with the Residue
However, it was not possible to move the entire juridical process to our country. Criminal investigation in London continues. Two our staff stay in London in the Russian EBRD office, without immunity, in the status of “suspects”. One can be sure that everything would be done in order to squeeze out of them all possible, so badly needed, witnessing against Russian office. Against our diplomats. Whom we, in fact, do not consider to be diplomats – since they did not work in the Foreign Ministry. And where did they work, by the way? In the EBRD? But they worked for “our Government”. For our Government! But, it looks like that any serious conclusions from such dramatic words could be found only in Hollywood movies. In other words, when the Government is the American one. And who will take the responsibility of saving “our private Ryan”?
Practically all our media limited itself to sun-dry information about the immunity waiver and about the existence of suspicions, as well as about
the “unprecedental scandal” of what has happened, however -- to be fair, -- without excessive punishment of Kotova. Somewhere, in-between the lines, there was a taste of disdain, and even pain that we flipped on the face “once again”.
We really have flipped on the face. But, let’s see in what way, exactly? An unequivocal answer was given only by the so-called “liberal” publication by
E.Albatz and D.Dokuchaev in “The New Times” N5 of 14 February 2011. By that time the Russian investigation against Kotova was hardly two weeks old.
Long and spacious text by Albatz/Dokuchaev does not leave any doubts in the guilt of a suspect (naturally, no direct such statements could be found).
Hence, the authors toss around psychodelic “rumors” and “versions” regarding, why, “indeed”, Kotova is “prosecuted”. This is a unsophisticated PR-tric (a.k.a. neuro-linguistic programming) when the subject of discussion is substituted (it is not about “is she quilty”, but about “what exactly her guilt is”). It is aimed to convince us from the start to take the side of the prosecution. For dessert – what people say about her. On one hand, Sergei Dubinin [former CBR Chairman]: “It’s hard for me to believe that Lena could involve herself in something like this”. On the other – persons who preferred to remain anonymous: “ The money she earned were never enough for her”, “she was ready to walk on heads of others for the sake of her career”. A characteristic, aimed to remove the last doubts and to strengthen suspicions.
The ultimate result you can construct yourself: we proposed to the honest and transparent world community a lousy candidate, frankly speaking; we again have exposed to the whole world our barbaric, Asian face.
What’s particularly interesting. Some articles name ONE MILLION EURO as an amount of the requested bribe, others – ONE MILLION POUNDS. What a
telling inaccuracy! Indeed, one million in whatever currency is no longer a dream symbol for “tough boys and girls”. Today, the dream is also a round number, but with more zeros – as a minimum a billion.
Worse than Incompetence?
I do not want to examine the situation from a standpoint: “she is a bitch, but she is our bitch”, although even this standpoint would have been hundred times more sensible, though unfair. Kotova – as well as Kollontai, as well as Chapman – served our country abroad. It is “the abc” of external politics that such a person must be fully “backed-up” by the State as a whole, and not just by one ministry to which he/she formally reports.
Clear as a day, that at the time of her nomination, this step has not been agreed upon with the Americans. Maybe it was not even possible to agree on this. We had no leverage? Nothing to offer in exchange? Only this makes it all too clear that from the very start the scenario was bound to be a confrontational one, that towards the end Kotova was doomed to be made a “scapegoat”. Indeed, as described, the counteractions did not take a long time.
“Framing up” a person – is a standard and easy task for secret services, especially in such a delicate matter as international distribution of loans.
Everything was implemented, as we can see, very technically and systematically. However, Kotova was left alone, and was leading her own life, having learned about the inquiry and about the already collected incriminating material only in fall of 2010. In other words, having learned nothing from us.
So what, maybe those, who “ought to know” knew this, but for whatever reasons preferred to keep her “in the dark”? Or maybe there were no such knowledgeable people at all in this matter? And what should be the right attitude towards the Russian criminal investigation? To treat it as merely technical? And how long will it drag on? Or maybe we aim to judge her for very doubtful “sins” with all the might of our fair trial machine just in order to please foreign partners”? Just to be able to say (and demonstrate) that we were “wrong”, that we “admit this” and that we “never again”?
Alternative approach – to find in our jurisdiction a comparable American or European office and to smash it against the wall. It would not be terribly against the rules. Particularly that we have a suitable material. For more than a year Russian investigating authorities try to understand the matter with the company Imperial Mining Ltd (cobalt mines in Altai), to which the EBRD provided a loan of 30 mln. Our investigators were quite naive: with the help of the warrants, directed to the Russian office of the EBRD, they tried to summon loan officers (these are those very managers, with authority, not the directors-representatives) signor Pulliti (head of the Natural Resources dept) and signor Grassi (senior banker). Why did they use such a hopeless avenue? Because the investigators did not find enough “synergy” either with our own Ministry of Foreign Affairs or with other special organizations dealing with the foreign matters. At the same very time the bank top-management have been requesting (!) Kotova (!!) to calm down her fellow-citizens and to put an end to the unacceptable behaviour in respect to persons, untouchable because of their diplomatic immunity.
And, more generally speaking, if we failed to have planned properly the operation from the start, we could have at least made a smooth exit, prevent the
gangrene from developing.
Bottom Line
EBRD President Mirow now complaints whenever possible about what monstrous conditions he must work in. And quite instrumentally channels the bank resources not towards building market economies in all countries of Eastern Europe, but towards saving from the financial crisis first of the Western Europe. He took his office in May 2008 and drastically decreased the share of Russia in the loan portfolio – from historically high 39% to 34%, and after the start of the crisis – to 30%. Of course in favour of the countries, oppressed in the socialist camp (Hungary) now EU members, as well as of Turkey, NATO member, which has become a country of operation under President Mirow. Probably there is also a lack of market economy there. Or it is desirable to constraint at least a bit immigration in Germany. And also in order to provide some sort of a consolation prize for not letting Turkey become an EU member – an objective desirable not only for Turkey, but for the US as well.
The 9% taken by Mirow away from Russia equal to (together with syndicated resources) 1,8 bln euro per annum.
It is not too difficult to see in this story comparable features to our unsuccessful attempts to buy the French metal holding “Arcelor” or the crisis-damaged “Opel”. It is unlikely that we will reach anything worthy in this global market, which lives its own life without us quite happily, if every next time, when they slap us on our hands, this slap will continue not to reach our brain. Because without the brain we will never become truly sovereign.
(TASS – news agency)[SIZE=3][SIZE=3]
