A possible alliance between the head of the RDIF Dmitriev and Deputy Prime Minister Trutnev can help both avoid questions about spending budget billions on projects to su...
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As the correspondent of The Moscow Post in the capital reports, soon the so-called new "hardware union" may appear in Russian politics. According to the authors of the Neshulman telegram channel, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev and the head of the RDIF Kirill Dmitriev allegedly plan to combine hardware resources.
Both are resource officials, however, in different weight categories. Yuri Trutnev - one of the most stable deputy prime ministers of the government, has serious political support at various levels of government. Dmitriev over the past year has turned into almost one of the key, if not officials, then at least representatives of the "elites" in Russia.
In addition to large-scale investment projects and from a certain point of view the "dubious" return from the RDIF, which we will still say, the Fund is the sales operator of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V. These are billions of dollars, and the Fund's management is negotiating with foreign governments to sell the vaccine, as well as organize its production on their territory.
This is a serious moment, but for Trutnev the union carries both benefits and risks. He is hit by a fire of criticism for failures in the development of the Far East, for which he is responsible. Ill-wishers are trying to attribute a variety of sins to Dmitriev - from the usual offshore companies, where budget money can be withdrawn, to the completely implausible legends of work for Ukrainian and even American intelligence that bear the property of explicit "nonsense."
It is Dmitriev who is the "weak link" in a possible alliance that would allow Trutnev to concentrate serious financial resources in the RDIF (equity - $10 billion), to establish control over budget flows.
Moreover, as the Sobesednik wrote, Dmitriev could be one of the key negotiators between the Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia within OPEC +, which in itself speaks volumes. True, after these negotiations, the OPEC + deal fell apart, and the market experienced a dramatic drop in oil prices. Whether the head of the RDIF could have been related to this is unknown. Well, what about the risks?
"Traces" Dmitriev
It is worth starting a little from afar, with a scandal related to the former protégé of Yuri Trutnev Leonid Petukhov. Earlier, Petukhov headed the Far East Agency for Attracting Investment and Supporting Exports (ANO API, Ministry of Eastern Development). Last fall, the department was abolished, and Petukhov himself went to "free breads."
This happened against the background of large-scale searches in the API ANO, the fact of which even the press secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov had to comment.
The purpose of the searches remained unknown. This gave rise to rumors that budget money aimed at development programs of the Far Eastern region could be stolen in the estate of Petukhov. And also that it was Trutnev who could deter the threat of possible criminal prosecution from the official.
And here Dmitriev? Despite the fact that in the past Petukhov actively worked in Ukraine, as well as a native of Kiev Kirill Dmitriev. Petukhov tried to attribute active informal interaction with Western organizations that are unfriendly to Russia (McKinsey&Company).
But Dmitriev also worked as a consultant to McKinsey in 1996-98 (Los Angeles, Moscow and Prague), in 1999 - as an investment banker in Goldman Sachs (New York), in 2000-2002 - as deputy general director of IBS, in 2002-2007 - co-managing partner of the direct investment fund Delta Private Equity. Impressive and alarming.
The fact that Dmitriev, like Petukhov, studied at an American university adds fuel to the fire. Roosters at Harvard, head of the RDIF - immediately at Harvard and Standford, which are considered one of the personnel "storekeepers" of the CIA. Summarizing, "hitting" Trutnev through Dmitriev is as simple as detractors were simply hitting him through Petukhov. And in the media and political field it will no longer matter whether this is really true.
Kushner's buddy?
However, even without such "stuffing," Dmitriev's surname sounded in a scandal that had an international resonance. Earlier, the American publication DailyBeast, citing its own sources, claimed that in the past there were regular contacts between Dmitriev and Jared Kushner, son-in-law and adviser to US President Donald Trump.
Dmitriev's enemies are spreading rumors, allegedly the latter may have personal commercial interests in the United States. About where he managed to work there, mentioned above. But today more is already known - the facts of RDIF investments in projects on the North American continent.
More specifically, it was the RDIF that invested in rapid tests for the diagnosis of coronavirus, and also (which is even more frightening) sponsored the sending of medical equipment scarce in the Russian Federation to the United States. About this wrote Sobesednik. The same publication does not hesitate to call Dmitriev a "shadow oligarch." And why is that?
A couple more words about the Ukrainian trace. Dmitriev, (like Petukhov, who worked at Burisma), actively worked in Ukraine, had affairs with local oligarchs. And not just oligarchs, invested in the assets of Viktor Pinchuk. He was even his manager.
Pinchuk is a long-term partner of another Ukrainian oligarch, the owner of the Privat group Igor Kolomoisky. And the ever-memorable Petukhov also worked with him. Whether there are many coincidences, and whether they ultimately lead to the person of Yuri Trutnev himself. Who, as you know, is very loyal to both officials - current and former?
Dmitriev's past ties did not prevent him from previously joining the boards of directors of Russian state-owned companies - Rostelecom, Gazprombank, Russian Railways, Transneft and many others. Similarly, Trutnev did not see anything wrong with Petukhov's work at the ANO API - after his Ukrainian voyage. Which, recall, ended only in 2017 - already with the active phase of the political confrontation between the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
And it seems that Dmitriev, like Petukhov in the past, does not want to spread about his past affairs in Ukraine. According to the Republic, after rumors appeared about Dmitriev's Ukrainian connections from different sites, information began to disappear that the official was born in Ukraine.
As for the work of the official in the RDIF, there are many white spots. Initially, the fund was generally created as a subsidiary of VEB, and with it fell under US sanctions. Later he was transferred to the Federal Property Management Agency, and only then he set sail under the leadership of Dmitriev himself.
Oligarchs and offshore shores
Dmitriev may carry benefits and risks as an ally of Trutnev and on another occasion. As the head of the RDIF, he closely communicates with Russian oligarchs. Whether he can have a personal interest in this is unknown. But it is known that in 2015 the RDIF financed the construction of the ZapSibneftekhim plant of SIBUR Leonid Mikhelson.
Dmitriev approved co-investment of the National Welfare Fund in the complex. But what does the Fund have to do with private companies, albeit huge, when it was created to work for the public, public interests? It turns out that shortly before that Dmitriev joined the Board of Directors of SIBUR, as RIA Novosti wrote about.
As a member of the Board of Directors, Dmitriev should receive official remuneration from the company. And they directly depend on the commercial success of the enterprise. Hence RDIF budget support?
In addition, Dmitriev took part in the creation of a consortium from the RDIF, structures of another oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, and the Chinese holding Changi. Dmitriev generally worked actively with the Chinese, and this is associated with the scandal with the construction of the Russian-Chinese bridge during the period when Alexey Chekunov, a longtime acquaintance of Dmitriev, was a member of the board and investment committee at the RDIF.
The Nizhneleninskoye-Tongjiang bridge crossing over the Amur River (Far East, Trutnev patrimony) was financed through the RDIF, 10 billion rubles were allocated for this. But the construction on the Russian side was very late. In addition, the construction cost three times more than China their part of the bridge.
But another thing is important - back in November 2014, the Russian-Chinese Investment Fund, created with the participation of the RDIF, bought the Rubikon company from Petropavlovsk Chernaya Metallurgia Group of Companies. Rubicon was a contractor on the Russian side. What's important? That later the company was in private hands.
And which: in an incomprehensible way, two Cypriot offshore companies appeared in the owners of the company at once - Laxont Holdings Limited and Exarzo Holdings Limited. Moreover, in November their share in the company is growing sharply (!), And they remain at today's mark of 37.5% for everyone, plus 25% belongs to the Far East and Arctic Development Fund, which... Yuri Trutnev.
It is even more strange that Yuri Trofimov, a longtime acquaintance and colleague of Dmitriev, turned out to be the director of the Laxont Holdings Limited offshore. Now he is the general director of RKIF Investment Management LLC. The very Russian-Chinese fund created with the participation of Dmitriev to implement projects with Chinese business. Information about this is in the Cyprus register of legal entities.
More wildly, today the RCIF itself is 100% owned by the Asset Management Limited offshore from the Cayman Islands. A whole network of offshore companies. That is, it is logical to assume that the money allocated for the construction of the bridge over the Amur could pass through these offshore.
And now this can already become a problem not only for Dmitriev himself, but also personally for Yuri Trutnev, who is responsible for the development of the Far East. Meanwhile, all these facts suggest that a possible alliance between Trutnev and Dmitriev may be an unwillingness to strengthen their hardware positions, but simply provide support and security to each other if law enforcement agencies have any questions about their work.
Now Trutnev and Dmitriev have nowhere to go from each other? Love for the motherland, as you know, can often unite. However, like the love of power and money.
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