Translated material
The enemy of the state
Interview with Bill Browner, who lobbied Magnitsky’s act in the US Congress
The head of Hermitage Capital Bill Brighter, who has lobbied Magnitsky’s act in the US Congress, is back in the news. The New Times met him in his office in London
In an interview with Western television channels and at a briefing in Davos, Prime Minister Medvedev spoke many times, and preliminary hearings were held in the Tver court in the case of non -payment by him and the late Sergey Magnitsky taxes in the amount of 522 million rubles. Both, although for various reasons, did not appear in court. The next meeting is scheduled for February 18.
Medvedev - Brower
In the Western media, information was held that in Davos on a closed briefing for the press, Prime Minister Medvedev allegedly spoke in the sense that you would be better in prison, not magnetic, and that the experience of your deceased lawyer would be useful to you. It was probably such a joke. How did you react to her?
As a threat. And we treat this threat very seriously. In the end, it does not happen so often that the prime minister of the country in which you fight corruption expressed direct or veiled threats. It is clear that this is a response to the Act of Magnitsky and to our investigations and that they are randomly trying to reduce the problems related to the possibility of arresting their accounts and assets abroad.
That is, you do not think that it was - albeit not too successful - a joke?
If you listen to everything that he (Medvedev) spoke in Davos, then you will understand that this is not a joke. About half of the time that he spent in Davos with journalists and Western businessmen, he spoke of the criminal case against the late Sergey (Magnitsky) and me, his reasons and why I need to punish me, and not officials guilty of Sergei's death.
Browner - Medvedev
And what are you going to do?
This morning I (the interview took place on 01.28. - The New Times) met with members of the House of Commons and are going to contact the law enforcement agencies of Great Britain, who can track and prevent all unwanted activity.
Are you afraid?
I realistically evaluate the possibilities of the Putin regime against those whom they consider enemies both within Russia and abroad. And I perfectly understand that in my desire to destroy the enemy, moral reasons will not stop them.
Do you mean the murder of Litvinenko?
| * STEPHEN CURTIS - managing director of Group Menatep, died in the helicopter disaster of 03/03/2004, the causes of the disaster are unknown. |
| ** Alexander Perepelichny - a businessman who fled to London and testified against policemen and officials in the theft of $ 230 million, after which he suddenly died on 11/10/2012 |
Not only. But the murders in Qatar, in Istanbul, Vienna and mystical deaths, such as Stephen Curtis*and Alexander Perepelichnaya **.
It is strange: it was Medvedev, as you yourself said in an interview, who agreed to help you with receiving an entry visa to Russia when you met him in Davos in January 2007.
I transferred my application for a visa to him, and he promised to transfer it to the appropriate instances - in fact, it all ended. I did not receive a visa, but Colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Artem Kuznetsov, who then removed the documents in our companies in Russia, was in touch, and proposed informally, as he put it, to meet. For ethical reasons we always refused such informal meetings and suggested sending us written questions. As for Medvedev, he is a function, he is not a boss, but an employee. He was such as president, and, by the way, he did not fulfill this function of his function either. But I am not interested in the motives of subordinates: they say what the boss ordered them to say - he did exactly this in Davos. By the way, in the general opinion, his speech there was extremely unsuccessful.
Obsessed
You are talking about threats and at the same time smile - as if you are satisfied with this circumstance.
No, this is not so. I understand perfectly well that anything can happen. But I also understand that life is short and each of us can have time to make only a few significant things. It’s important for me to achieve justice in the murder of Sergei Magnitsky. I will even tell you that my life has gained some new meaning when this tragedy with Sergey happened: I want to make people guilty of his death were punished and so that this could not happen anymore.
But you are engaged in business, and money, as they say, love silence. Do you have a business with business because of your political activity already here in the West?
You know, there are things more important than money. And the investigation of Magnitsky’s murder is more important to me than whether I will do more money or not. By the way, a curious observation from the last Davos: if, say, two years ago, Russian businessmen who came to the (World Economic) Forum fled from me, as if I were radiation, then this time the situation was different. I will not call names so as not to create problems for these people, but I felt their sympathy and support. I think that even people who are part of the Putin regime nevertheless understand that a certain red line is crossed: the story with Magnitsky is such a trait, a ban on the adoption of patients with Russian orphans - such a trait. And it seems to me that many began to understand that my struggle is good, and not bad for their country. And I think that when a critical moment comes when the Putin regime weakens - and this can suddenly happen for various reasons - people who now demonstrate the support of Putin will turn against him. After all, many believe that over 12 years the regime stole a trillion dollars through various corruption fraud with the state budget. Trillion dollars - incredible money.
Act of Magnitsky
How can you hide a trillion dollars in today's world, when transactions are tracked, banks, even Swiss, open accounts, and offshores cease to be black?
That's exactly why they are scared by the Magnitsky act. After all, they do not keep this money in Russia - in the West. They believed that when they move away from business, they would be able to use the fruits of their reign, and now everything is under a big question. Because their money can be arrested, frozen, transactions are stopped. And it turns out that all the risks that they accepted, engaged in embezzlement, was wasted. Hence such a hysterical reaction - before their eyes, the years of their hard work to create their own wealth at the expense of taxpayers go into the sand.
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I realistically evaluate the possibilities of the Putin regime against those whom they consider enemies
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As an act of Magnitsky will work in the United States - more or less clear. And what about in Europe?
As for America, the list is being prepared - first of all, those who were somehow connected with the murder of Magnitsky. But not only. And therefore, the regime is also panic, since the list will not have restrictions: everyone who is involved in monstrous human rights violations may be on this list. And there are a lot of such violations - so many people are in prisons whose money attracted or whose views, on the contrary, did not like many people from the Russian administration. As soon as the list is compiled and their accounts or assets are found in American banks, they will be frozen.
Still, how many names can be on this list?
I can only say so far that the list will be much longer than 60 people (who were on the list of Senator Cardin).
How many - 100? 150 people?
I can't say anything else yet.
And in Europe?
In Europe, I think, it will take another year to make the same decision as in the USA-after all, the EU includes 27 very different countries.
And in the UK?
In the UK, we advanced very far in this matter: the parliament with the absolute majority adopted a resolution that requires the government to do this. Last year, the government responded with the adoption of a new policy against people who violate human rights - they are prohibited from entering the country. They also stated that there is an understanding that Magnitsky killers should also fall under this ban, but there was no public announcement about this yet. I think that during the year all issues will be resolved.
How much did you cost the lobbying campaign in the United States?
You will be surprised - it cost me quite a bit, although Russian officials are convinced that I have spent millions of dollars on this. I have several people who are engaged in this, we spent very little to pay lawyers. For the most part, people worked about Bono - in the name of the idea that those who torture people in prisons should be punished, and those who suffered should have the right to justice and legal assessment. Believe me, when you fight for a fair business, to find people who are ready to conduct private investigations or lobbying laws is completely easy.
Moscow - Brower
| *** From an interview with Medvedev Prime Minister Farid Zakarii with CNN : “The money that he (Bill Browner) earned in Russia is measured by billions of dollars, and this was not quite clean money. It was money using various financial schemes, and Mr. Magnitsky simply, due to his official position, helped him. ” And even sharper: "He is persecuted as a criminal by the Russian justice." **** Greenmail - aggressive actions, which are sometimes also called corporate blackmail when, on the basis of the collected incriminating evidence or with the help of the court, the minority owner of the shares forces to redeem their company - an issuer of shares at an inflated price. In legal language, this is also called “abuse of law”, but criminally in Russia is not persecuted. |
Now a few questions about those charges that you and Sergei Magnitsky are presented to Russia in Russia. In an interview with Medvedev Farid Zakaria with CNN (the transcript was posted on the website of the Government Prime Minister), the Russian prime minister said that “he is Russian justice,” that is, “you are pursued as a criminal” ***. You are accused of using Greenmail ****, of registering companies in Kalmykia and the use of disabled people in order to obtain tax benefits.
This is a perplexed or consciously distorted idea of what we did. We did a very simple thing: we collected information about corruption in Russian companies. For example, in Gazprom, where a huge number of corruption transactions and, by the way, the Russian state had and has a majority package. So when we talked about how we stole stocks or made a profit there, it was beneficial, including the Russian state. And Greenmile suggests that the name is seeking privileges for himself at the expense of everyone else. But from our actions all other shareholders who were not received by the profit won, because Gazprom’s management disposed of it as its own. We really earned a lot of money in Russia, but, firstly, this is the money of investors who invested in our fund, and secondly, we can say the same about those who invested in Gazprom’s shares, Sberbank or RAO UES.
However, you are accused of bought up Gazprom shares to fed firms, since in those years foreigners did not have the right to buy shares of a gas monopoly directly?
I will remind you that 30% of Gazprom in those years was quite legally owned by foreigners - through gray schemes. For this, for example, Gazprom itself, together with JP Morgan, organized a special gray scheme - it was in 2004. Let me remind you that the German Rurgaz owned 3-4% of Gazprom. And also - another 1000 other foreigners. The Federal Securities Commission considered these schemes and determined that they were legal. Now as for our companies in Kalmykia. In the mid-90s, the Russian government determined several regions that received special status and special tax benefits to attract investors there. It is also equally in the USA, for example, special tax benefits are in the state of Delaware, where many companies are registered. So there was nothing illegal in that we registered companies in Kalmykia. In the same way, the government created a special program that created incentives for companies to hire people with disabilities. We requested the government about this, received an explanation and, on the recommendation of local authorities, hired disabled people: they earned money, but it was beneficial for us. And now, years later, and only because we caught officials on the theft of $ 230 million from the budget, these our actions are suddenly declared illegal.
Still, because of you so unexpectedly in 2005, they blocked the entrance to the country-they were deported directly from Sheremetyev-because of Gazprom or due to the fact that they sued Surgutneftegaz, demanding that the company sell its treasury shares-they said that there were the interests of the all-powerful Igor Sechin?
We really demanded that the structure of possession of Surgutneftegaz be made transparent: 63% of the shares belonged to Surgutneftegaz, that is, they were treasury, which should not be, since the company could not own itself. Perhaps this was the reason, perhaps, the corruption in Gazprom we revealed.
Process
Your forecast: how will the court end in Moscow?
And what is there to predict? This court is akin to indicative Stalinist processes. They judge a dead person with the only task - to discredit Sergey Magnitsky and me in order to prevent the adoption of the Act to Magnitsky Europe.
One of those who appeared in the London’s high court filed a lawsuit in the “Untouchable” film investigation, Pavel Karpov, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice. You and your colleagues accused him that he was a key link of the theft of $ 230 million and that after that his family expenses exceeded $ 1 million. Russian media wrote that your lawyers insisted that the court investigation be transferred to Moscow. Why?
My lawyers limit the possibility of my comment. Lawyers presented a detailed justification of the statements previously made against Karpov, as well as his role in the theft of our companies and the Magnitsky case. The argument that the English court is used by Karpov for other purposes is undoubtedly important, as well as all other pages of the document.