Berlusconi, perhaps the first politician and businessman in Europe, hoping to extract direct benefits from the characteristics of modern Russian capitalism
* * October 2010. Leningrad region. What kind of fish will friends get? Friendship with connections. The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi frequented to Russia. Only from the beginning of autumn - two visits. True, the reason for the last trip, in October, was purely private: to personally congratulate the birthday of “friend of Vladimir”. But people of the rank of Berlusconi rarely sit on the plane without the intention of combining the pleasant with useful. The New Times **** was versed in the substantive side of meetings at the highest level More than the Kremlin, Peter and Sochi Silvio Berlusconi likes the Valdai residence of his Russian friend. Three years ago, he called it “paradise on earth”, and since then he has not changed his opinion. It is unlikely that you will find a place better to relax from the gossip and scandals endlessly pursuing him and share with the “friend of Vladi” (as Italian journalists call Putin) thoughts about prosperous bilateral relations. But Cavalier (nickname Berlusconi) has one feature: he is used to talking about politics, but to think about money. And people from his environment testify: on this October visit to the Russian friend, the 74-year-old prime minister-oligarch was especially thoughtful.
Ready to share in Italy, despite official refutations, rumors crawl: the flagship of Mediahimeria Berlusconi Mediaset Holding is in a need for new media venues, where you could attract advertising. In 2009, the income of the holding from advertising, according to some reports, fell by 8.6%, the Dutch producer company Endemol, which is controlled by Endemol, is agonized, the private Spanish television channel, controlled by one of the Mediaset’s daughters, was experiencing not better times. Large investments (about € 400 million) in satellite television, which gradually replacing analogy in Italy, also affected the holding budget. Add to this growing competition from the British satellite television channel Sky
** Enters the empire of the Australian media Magnate Rupert Murdok. Which on October 1 was the first in Europe to broadcast in 3D format - in a word, there is something to think about. According to the informed Italian online publication Lettera43, now Berlusconi is “ready to share”, reducing its share of shares in Mediaset to 20% in exchange for the influx of “fresh” foreign capital. To begin with, it is important for him to cure a seriously ill “segrait colossus” - this is the name of Canale 5, the main television channel of the Berlusconi empire, broadcasting from the town of Segraita near Milan. According to Lettera43, Berlusconi is ready to yield to Russians 5-6% of Mediaset shares: it is such a share in total that American partners of Cavalier, Mackenzie Cundill Investment Management, BlackRock and FMR LLC. The fact is that American minority are no longer seeing special business passes in Mediaset and are tuned to sell their shares. Moreover, the Russians, apparently, are ready to pay well. Question: Why should the Russian oligarchs get into an obscure business? Answer: If Putin orders, how to get in. Silvio Berlusconi, perhaps, is the first politician and businessman in Europe, hoping to acquire direct benefits from the characteristics of modern Russian capitalism. “Friendship with Russia and its leaders are amused by the vanity of Berlusconi,” the director of the Roman Center for Strategic Research Enrico Yakkia explains in a conversation with The New Times. - He always submits himself as a politician who “joined” Russia to Europe. And this image is in demand by Italians, even in Brussels, many believe that Putin and Berlusconi are primarily successful entrepreneurs who implement their own projects. ” And Mediaset is just another project.
At first, three musketeers among Russian candidates for Mediaset partners were called Gazprom-Media. But then this candidate faded: too many non -core assets hangs on it. After that, everyone started talking about Angelo Codignoni. You don't know him? The proxy of Berlusconi, ex-manager of his own financial holding Fininvest, Codignoni participated in many Italian prime minister projects: he was the general director of the Berlusconi of the French television channel La Cinq, the general secretary of the Berlusconi-Forward, Italy, the Codinononi, is spinning in the Codinoni party. Orbit of the National Media Group (NMG), a Russian holding owned by Yuri Kovalchuk, a friend of Vladimir Putin for the cooperative "Lake" and the co -owner of the Bank "Russia"
* NMG has a control package of shares of the Izvestia newspaper, REN TV channel and the fifth channel. , whose chairman of the Public Council is the gymnast known in the past, and now the deputy and deputy committee of youth of the State Duma Alina Kabaeva. So it is likely that it is the NMG that will become the new shareholder of Mediaset. However, among the future investors of the holding, the media Magnat Gleb Fetisov, the minority shareholder of the Italian company Altimo (Alfa Telecom International Mobile), is also called.
But suppose the Russian oligarchs are O Miracle! - Putin disobey. Or they will start to pull time. It doesn’t matter! In Russia, Berlusconi has other “influence agents”. The figure of another “musketeer” King Berluskony, the ubiquitous Antonio Falliko, the former consultant Fininvest, and now the heads of CJSC Bank Inteza, the Russian “daughter” of the Italian banking giant of the same name by the Tsar-Bellico, come to mind. Falliko, a Sicilian from the town of Bronte (not far from Katania), lived in Moscow for more than 30 years. Among his childhood friends are none other than the senator Marcello Dell'udri, the comrade -in -arms of Berlusconi, convicted of mafia activities. Falliko met Berlusconi himself back in the 1980s. It was Falliko who was the main mediator between Putin and Berlusconi in the signing of various economic agreements, including the main - on the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline. In special gratitude, the Russian prime minister awarded the Italian banker the Order of Friendship. In 2009, Falliko, by education, a philologist, published in Russia his first novel “Leninsky Prospekt” under the pseudonym Antonov: a few months ago, this book about the exciting adventures of the Italian secret agent in Moscow was also published in Italy, at the Feltrinelli publishing house.
"
Berlusconi, perhaps the first politician and businessman in Europe, hoping to extract direct benefits from the characteristics of modern Russian capitalism
"
Another curious figure is the entrepreneur Bruno Mentasi Granelli, a friend of the Berlusconi family and his ex-partner on the Tele+television project. Mentazi, they say, has access to Gazprom bins. Mentazi was going to become the main partner of the Russian giant back in 2003: he founded the company Central Energy Italia, which entered into an agreement with GAZ EXPORT (the current Gazpromexport), headed by Alexander Medvedev, proof of Vladimir Putin. Then the project failed. But the connections remained.
The Libyan project is the fate of the Mediaset holding and the South Stream project is not the only thing that binds Berlusconi and Putin. In Rome, he took the way (however, to whom to whom) and the Libyan leader Muamar Gaddafi: in 2010, Berlusconi received him four times. Friends? Almost, judging by the promise of Berlusconi to pay Libya, the former Italian colony, $ 5 billion as compensation for “moral damage”. But before, he achieved from Muamar's friend consent that Russia and Italy will be building a 550-kilometer section of the Sirt-Bengazi railway. And one more thing: there is no gas to fill the “South Stream” pipes yet, although Gazprom promises. And Colonel Gaddafi has. On it, by the way, the company of friends does not close. Another “star of the East” fell victim to the charm of Berlusconi - Turkish Prime Minister Rajep Tayyip Erdogan, who chose the most original way of communicating with the Italian colleague: English interspersed with Turkish. But Berlusconi already understands everything. After all, it was he, and not Erdogan, gave birth to an idea (picked up by Putin) to fasten Turkey to the project of the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, promising in return Ankara to defend its interests in the European Union, where Erdogan desperate to bring his country. “Libya was admitted to the holy of the Holy of the Italian financial system - the Unicredit bank, the leader of the market. Now the Libyan share in the capital of the bank is increased to 6.68%, ”the Italian economic observer Paolo Jila tells The New Times. “The large Austrian and German shareholders of Unicredit insisted on the resignation of his head Alessandro Profumo, but this did not change anything.” For Silvio Berlusconi, friendship is above all.
The elections will once judge the former prime minister of Italy Romano prodi scanned: “If Berlusconi had just as well versed in Italian problems, as in Russian!” But where is it now? But the supporters of the Berlusconi have their own opinion: it is thanks to friendship with strategically useful countries, pantries of natural resources, with helpful oligarchs and super -high contracts, their idol was so firmly registered in the Kiji Palace
* The official residence of the Prime Minister of Italy. . In any case, only the next parliamentary elections that will be held in 2013 will be able to judge prodi and “Berluskonists”. The television channels will be illuminated by the Cavalier, quite likely, thanks to Russian money. Friendship will win!
Silvio Berlusconi was born on September 29, 1936 in the family of a bank employee. In 1961, he graduated with honors from the Faculty of Law of the University of Milan. In 1961 he began to engage in business. Having founded a construction company, the construction of residential complexes near Milan. Since the end of the 70s, he began to engage in the media: he acquired part of the shares of the newspaper Jornal, then three television channels-Canal-5, Italy-1, Reta-4, which later turned into a giant Mediaset holding. 38.62% of the holding shares belongs to the Fininvest investment group, controlled by Berlusconi, 42.91% to national investors, 14.68%-investors-individuals and the remaining 3.79% are treasury shares. On April 14–15, 2008, Berlusconi won the early elections to the Italian parliament. His fortune is estimated at $ 6.5 billion
Anna Lesnevskaya (Florence) and Sergey Jesuit (Rome) took part in the preparation of the material
* October 2010. Leningrad region. What kind of fish will friends get? Friendship with connections. The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi frequented to Russia. Only from the beginning of autumn - two visits. True, the reason for the last trip, in October, was purely private: to personally congratulate the birthday of “friend of Vladimir”. But people of the rank of Berlusconi rarely sit on the plane without the intention of combining the pleasant with useful. The New Times **** was versed in the substantive side of meetings at the highest level