| FBI is looking for Gazprom's millions Member of the Russian Federation Council Andrei Vavilov was subjected to more than 4 hours of interrogation by FBI investigators in the United States. This became known only yesterday, although the interrogation took place on January 5 at the airport in the American city of Palm Beach, where the personal plane of the former deputy minister of finance, and now a Russian senator, was forced to land. Mr. Vavilov ended up in the United States on personal business; he and his wife flew there from Moscow via Barbados to go skiing at the prestigious American resort in Aspen (Colorado).
The appearance of Mr. Vavilov in the skies over America was expected. All US international airports were notified and received clear instructions to meet the Russian senator. Several FBI agents, a special agent of the US Treasury Department and an assistant federal prosecutor in San Francisco arrived in Palm Beach to see him. Mr. Vavilov’s lawyers were urgently summoned there from New York.
After the interrogation, as reported by the RBC agency, an unprecedented case for such situations occurred: Andrei Vavilov and his wife were released. The senator, who has immunity status in Russia, had to sign an obligation to testify on issues of interest to the American authorities at Mr. Vavilov’s future location, in Aspen.
It is unknown whether he had to take time away from skiing to additionally communicate with FBI investigators. On January 20, Andrei Vavilov and his wife returned safely to Russia.
According to available information, the FBI's interest in the Russian parliamentarian is connected with the United States justice investigation into the “case of Pavel Lazarenko,” a Ukrainian ex-prime minister accused of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars through American banks in 1995-97. The trial in this case begins on February 17. Paradoxically, American investigators are interested in the disappearance of Russian money, $700 million belonging to Gazprom. At the same time, Russia has not indicated its claims in this case in any way.
“American Adventures” by Andrei Vavilov may well be related to the scandalous case of the former chief financier of the Russian Ministry of Defense Georgy Oleynik. In the Oleynik case we are talking about $450 million.
Its essence is as follows. In 1996, Gazprom accumulated a huge tax debt to the budget, and the Ministry of Finance, in turn, could not implement the National Defense program. As a result, a multilateral agreement was born with
participation of Gazprom, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Defense, the Government of the Russian Federation, as well as the Government and the Unified Energy System of Ukraine on complex debt offset. It was signed, among others, by Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, Gazprom head Rem Vyakhirev, Defense Minister Igor Sergeev, head of the Unified Energy System of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko and Deputy Finance Minister Andrei Vavilov. To implement it, in the fall of 1996, Gazprom took out loans worth $450 million from three Russian banks, which it transferred as taxes to the federal budget. And the Ministry of Finance transferred them to the Ministry of Defense. And the military transferred funds to the accounts of the English company UEI, a subsidiary of the UES of Ukraine, against future deliveries of construction materials from there for the Russian military. All these postings were carried out in 2-3 days. As a result, the Ministry of Defense received almost nothing, and already in 2000, the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case. In addition to Mr. Oleynik, Andrei Vavilov also appeared in this case, who, according to the general, allegedly came up with this whole scheme and forced him to sign payment orders for the transfer of money to Ukraine.
It is noted that the FBI is also interested in the testimony of Boris Yeltsin, Viktor Chernomyrdin and Rem Vyakhirev in this high-profile case. If they find themselves in the United States, they will be forcibly brought to court.
Mr. Vavilov’s “forced imprisonment” occurred against the backdrop of Washington’s new crusade against corruption, as evidenced by the Proclamation of US President George W. Bush issued on “January 12, 2004, 228 years after the Independence of the United States” and immediately entered into force. Prohibiting the immigration and non-immigrant entry into the country of persons involved in or benefiting from corruption.”
The Proclamation "shall suspend the entry" into the United States of "present and former government officials" and members of their families "whose misappropriation of public funds or interference in judicial, electoral... processes has caused... serious adverse consequences to the national interests of the United States." Drawing up a “blacklist” of those who will be denied entry into the United States is entrusted to Secretary of State Colin Powell, who will apparently entrust this task to his legal assistant.
Informed sources of the Vremya Novostey newspaper in Washington report that Russians such as Duma deputy Iosif Kobzon (who has long been denied an American visa) and businessman Grigory Luchansky may be on this list. The latter, however, a couple of years ago won a court in the UK, which declared the accusations made against him in this country of connections with organized crime unfounded.
From other CIS countries, the “Powell list” may obviously include a number of senior leaders of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, whose names appear in high-profile corruption cases being investigated in the United States. In addition, one of the leaders of the Ukrainian opposition, Yulia Tymoshenko, who is involved in the “Lazarenko case,” is also a candidate for this list. Arkady DUBNOV |
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