The presidential election in Madagascar was accompanied by the activity of bots on the VKontakte social network. The posts published on the day of the first round of voting led to the page of the publication, which is associated with Evgeny Prigozhin.

On November 7 and 8, 2018, users of several dozen VKontakte groups could observe an unusual sight. At about the same time, in publics on clubs, bars, shopping centers, cinemas and cartoons, the same posts with the primitive Madagascar map appeared, the Antanariva Province Geota and a link to the article “Presidential Election Started at Madagascar”. All communities in which such records were published unites one - the word “Madagascar” is present in their name. And the account from which these messages were left was probably Fakeov.

Such a post appeared in the public "Madagascar | Madagascar Penguins, dedicated to the cartoon of the same name. This group, of course, has nothing to do with the elections on the island, and among its participants there is no one who would indicate Madagascar as a country of residence. Source: Page of the Community in VKontakte

In total, 33 such posts appeared in the communities, calculated the “project” based on the data of the Echosec service; At the time of publication of the text, none of the posts have been deleted. The site that the link is leading is the information agency “Politics Today”, the founder of which is the “Federal News Agency” related to the President’s personal culinary specialist - Evgeny Prigozhin. The first tour of the Madagascar elections, held on November 7, was really important both for an entrepreneur and Moscow: Russian political technologists worked in Madagascar for six months, helping to organize election campaigns to several local presidential candidates.

These posts did not lead to an increase in the attendance of the resource: on the contrary, according to Similarweb, in November, the news agency entered the website of the news agency almost twice as much compared to the previous month, so there was probably no practical benefit from the activity of bots. Perhaps, like from the entire campaign of Prigozhin on the island.

Evgeny Prigozhin, a Petersburg businessman,, according to Rosbalt , began his career, began rapidly - "theft, robbery, an attack on a harmless girl, a minor booze." In the early 2000s, Vladimir Putin drove the presidents of France and the USA Jacques Shirak and George Bush to his floating restaurant . Later, the businessman received contracts for the supply of food for the army, schools and kindergartens , as well as for the Kremlin banquets. “Prigogine feeds very tasty,” a high -ranking federal official explained Prigozhin's success. People associated with Prigozhin were related to the beating of opposition activists, to the financing of the Troll factory and the creation of a private militarycompany , headed by former GRU employee Dmitry Utkin, nicknamed Wagner.

Madagascar is ours

Evgeny Prigozhin became interested in Africa at the end of the year before last, shortly after which he was able to profitably “submit” the idea of expansion on the continent to President Vladimir Putin. As a result, not only Prigozhin’s people, but also special services employees, and the number of official contacts between Moscow and Antananariv, increased noticeably increased.

Prigozhin arose of interest in Africa at the end of 2017, says a political strategist who worked in Madagascar. Then the entrepreneur was able to profitably give President Putin the idea of strengthening Russian influence in the world and that Moscow will be able to squeeze Beijing in influences in the third world countries: “The secret of Prigozhin is that he learned to“ sell ”Putin a dream is that he wants to hear about the strengthening of Russian influence in the world,” said the interlocutor familiar with the organization of Prigozhin’s structures.

For the “Kremlin cook”, foreign policy has long become familiar: since Russia has been in isolation due to events in the Crimea and eastern Ukraine, structures related to the entrepreneur participated in hostilities in the territory of the unrecognized Donetsk and Lugansk Republics , fought in Syria , tried to influence the course of presidential elections in the United States in 2016.

The idea to engage in Africa, apparently, attracted Putin: in the summer of 2018, he already talked about the prospects of Russian business on the continent and talked about the preparation of the Russia-Africa summit. While diplomats agreed on the details of the summit, which is scheduled for autumn 2019, an informal analytical center arose under Prigogine in St. Petersburg, the political strategist who worked in Madagascar insists. It was from him that all the work on Africa was coordinated.

Among the heads of the headquarters are political technologists Yaroslav Ignatovsky (Kommersant and New Gazeta) and Igor Osadchiy were associated with Ignatovsky Prigozhin, the acquaintance of the Osadchy and the political strategist who worked in Madagascar tell. The latter is engaged in the "recruitment" of political consultants for a trip to Africa, according to one of the interlocutors. In the publication of Shaltai-Boltya, he appeared as the head of the “external department of the troll factory” Prigozhin. Ignatovsky and Osadchiy refused to answer the questions of the "project".

What Prigozhin does in Africa

The Central African Republicalem of 2018 in the TsAD was killed by journalists Orkhan Dzhemal, Alexander Rastorguev and Kirill Radchenko, who made a film about the activities of the Wagner Group. According to the Dossier Center, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russians were involved in their deaths, who allegedly worked on one of the structures of Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Gold in the Tsar is mined by Lobaye Invest close to a businessman.

Coordinates the work in the TsAS in the “St. Petersburg Center” Political strategist Andrei Potaychuk, his colleague told the “project”; Potaychuk did not answer questions, and about 30 people visited the republic, whose work was paid for Prigozhin's structures, follows from the materials of the Dossier Center, which are at the disposal of the “project”.

Libya
Evgeny Prigozhin participated in the negotiations of the Minister of Defense of Russia Sergey Shoigu with Marshal Caliph Haftar.

Sudan
Contracted with Prigozhin, the company "M Invest" is engaged in the search for gold in the country. There is also at least one base of military instructors working in the neighboring tsar.

Airplane. Prigozhin’s business jet has repeatedly visited Lebanon, Kenya, Sudan and Chad.

At the disposal of the “project” there is a letter from one of the political consultants who visited Madagascar and, after returning, began to look for work in Russia, the authenticity of the letter was confirmed by the political consultant, who asked not to call his name for security reasons. The document states that it was Prigozhin who acted as the customer of the work of political technologists. The experts received the money, according to one of the political strategists working in Madagascar, at the box office in Moscow and St. Petersburg after transferring from an individual. One of the points of the issue was in the center of the capital near Taganskaya Square.

... There was even more experience (there were many new and interesting projects on the island, including on the Internet-control of the campaign; Customer E. Prigozhin), still wanted to offer his services in terms of participation in the September campaign.

In the letter, the political strategist indicates that for a long time "worked in a large project in Madagascar."

In the spring of 2018, employees of the St. Petersburg Center prepared an extensive certificate for Prigozhin for 20 countries, says a political strategist who worked in Madagascar. The Bloomberg agency previously wrote about the growth of Russia's activity in ten countries of Africa: this is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Libya, Madagascar, Angola, Guinea, Guinea-Bisau, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and the Central African Republic. In addition to these countries, Prigozhin analysts, at least, were also engaged in child, Nigeria and Kenia, says a political strategist who worked in Madagascar.

Lemurs and baobabs

Political technologists worked in Madagascar, who knew almost nothing about the situation on the island. Prior to this, they participated only in regional campaigns, studied in the camps of the “Nashists” on Lake Seliger or completely traded shoes.

“Some just went to see Lemurov and Alley Baobabov,” the political strategist tells about his colleagues, who came to Madagascar as part of a group of 15-20 Russian experts in the spring of 2018. A similar assessment of the number of the group is given by the Malagasian politician who asked for anonymity for security reasons. They got the usual flights from Moscow with several transfers. There were no specialists in Madagascar among them, political strategists received the first idea of the domestic political situation in this country in March 2018, two participants in the trip were told when the Malagasky President Eri Radzaunarimpiana came to the Moscow Investment Forum. In the hotel opposite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Smolenskaya Square, the head of state was going to listen to not only Africa experts, but also the same political strategists who were accredited as employees of one of the universities, says the interlocutor of Project.

“There was no task to find smart (political strategists -“ project ”). The task was to make the form of complicity: we were there, we held on to the shaft, and without us the banner would have fallen, ”one of the political strategists explains. The specialists set the task to support the current head of state in the upcoming elections, which the Russians were immediately called the “pianina” for brevity - according to the latest letters of the surname. But during the work on the island, the candidates on which the bet was made changed several times, emphasizes the political strategist who worked in Madagascar; About several candidates who took advantage of the services of Russian consultants, the “project” was told by the Malagasian politician who asked for anonymity for security reasons. “It is not clear whose banner was supported,” one of the political strategists is ironic.

There were no clear selection criteria for the Madagascar Group: the group was not very well -known regional political technologists, recent participants in the Seliger and Territory of meanings without field work experience and even “volunteers from Syria, who unexpected political consultants in Madagascar,” says one of the political strategists. The Project identified several experts participating in the trip.

The visit of the head of Madagascar was preparing for almost six months, he was preceded by a series of meetings that the Malagasian officials held with Russian diplomats at the end of 2017 and at the beginning of 2018. And at the end of March, a special representative of the president in the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov went to Antananariv. Already in April, official Moscow veiledly warned foreign powers against interference with the republic’s politics, where there were clashes of the opposition and police officers: “We proceed from the fact that the development of events in Madagascar is the internal cause of this country.”

Madagascar group

Maxim Shugali. Two Russian colleagues and an employee of the headquarters of one of the Malagasian politicians named Shafir told about his work on the island of Project; She asked not to indicate her surname for security reasons.

The “Project” discovered a photograph of a man who was extremely similar to Shugaley, who was posted on Facebook by the Malagasian driver Dani's Rasam, who worked with the Russian delegation on the island on Facebook. From the signature to the photo it follows that at that moment Shugali (in the photo with the phone) was in the restaurant of the city of Tuamasin in the east of the country.

A person who is extremely similar to Shugaley in a photo of a driver who worked with a Russian delegation

Shugali previously nominated from the LDPR in local elections in St. Petersburg. In the city, he became famous for the fact that in the elections to the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg in 2002 he ate several documents at a meeting of the election commission so that they would not be submitted to the court. So described this incident “Independent Gazeta”: “Savelyev’s interests were represented by his confidant, a member of the commission with an advisory vote Maxim Shugali. When the commission decided to transfer the case to the court on the withdrawal of Savelyev from registration, Shugaly asked the chairman of the district election commission Sergei Kobylyansky to give him once again to look at the paper prepared to the court. Having received a folder with documents, Shugali began to tear them and set fire to a lighter, click the documents and poke them in the mouth, trying to swallow. When the police outfit called by members of the election commander arrived, the documents were already over. Shugaley was offered to go to draw up a protocol in the police department, where he proceeded with his head proudly raised. ”

In Madagascar, Shugali met with members of the headquarters of former Prime Minister Jean Beriziki, who ran for the president’s post, and offered them funding, the staff of the headquarters, the Malagasian politician Eric Yoklein, told them to the project. According to her, from the consultant she received about a thousand euros. Shugali answered all the questions of the “project” only with the word “hello”.

Valery Rubov. About his work on the island told the “project” by the staff of the headquarters of former Prime Minister Jean Beriziki, who participated in the elections; The employee interacted with a group of political strategists and helped them with logistics.

St. Petersburg political strategist. He was in Madagascar in December 2018 as part of a group of ten people. From the Antananariva, the group, which included Rubov, headed to the cities of Antsiranana and Mahadzang in the north of the island. To all the questions of Vorov, I answered that the correspondent of the “project” was “an interesting communication scheme”, after which he blocked him on Facebook.

Vladimir Frolov. One of the members of the Malagasian political movement of Akata told about his work on the island.

A political strategist from Nizhny Novgorod stood at the source of the newspaper “Our Time of Udmurtia”, as he himself claims on his Facebook page. In Madagascar, he, as part of a group of consultants, met with the former Minister of Agriculture Vivato Rakotovo, as well as with representatives of the Akata movement, who sought a revision of the election legislation, one of the members of this movement told the project. He introduced himself to the local activists as “Monsieur Vladimir Volodya” or “VV”, but the Malagasians soon realized that he did not name his last name. Frolov did not hesitate to tell about his trip to the island, filling out the questionnaire at the Dating@mail.@mail service. Frolov did not answer the questions of the “project”.

Grigory Belikov. The video operator Ramananzoa and two activists told about his work on the island of the “project” - Lahigika Zozhasmin and Eric Yoklein; All three worked for several candidates during the presidential election.

The St. Petersburg political strategist, although it is probably not his main source of earnings. Since 2008, as follows from the data of the SPARK-Interfax service and ads on the Avito website, Belikov owns shoe stores. He handed over part of the retail premises in 2017-2018 by placing ads on the Avito website, and last summer he published an announcement of the sale of the entire shoe network: “Four stores in St. Petersburg, one in Petrozavodsk, commodity residues for 25 million rubles, and profitability for five years.” During a trip to Madagascar, he worked in the city of Tuamasin, where he liked the Victoria Beach hotel. Belikov celebrated on his Facebook page that he liked the hotel. An employee of the headquarters of one of the Malagasian politicians told the “project” that the group of political strategists, which included Belikov, was engaged in financing candidates, but did not answer other questions. Belikov himself insists that he went to rest on the island.

Nizhny Novgorod technologist Nikolai Pakhomov also worked on the island, one of the Malagasian polyactivists told the project; Pakhomov did not answer the questions of the “project”; And a group of about 20 translators: their services were required, since none of the political consultants said in French, said a political strategist who worked in Madagascar, and two guides-Malagasis, who accompanied the group of political consultants, confirmed. Among the translators were, for example, MGIMO graduate Ekaterina Postnikova, guides - Andre Nantenain and his colleague, who asked not to call his name, saw her on the island; Postnikova read the questions of the “project”, but did not react to them; And Andrei Maslennikov, who graduated from the Military University of the Ministry of Defense, follows from his page on Facebook; Maslennikov himself did not answer the questions of the “project”; A local politician spoke about his work on the island, who asked not to call his name.

Eight candidates

Ни один из малагасийских политиков, на кого первоначально сделали ставку российские политтехнологи, не прошел во второй тур выборов президента. Ближе к концу кампании консультанты начали работать с будущим победителем, но тому уже пообещали помощь США и Китай.

Первоначально политтехнологи должны были поддержать на выборах действующего президента Эри Радзаунаримампианину , рассказывает политтехнолог, работавший на острове, и подтверждает малагасийский политик, попросивший об анонимности из соображений безопасности. Предполагалось, что эксперты будут заниматься социологическими исследованиями и аналитикой, готовить план избирательной кампании, выпускать газеты, согласовывать тексты выступлений. Но эта работа в основном не выполнялась. «Затраты были очень большие, но эффект никого не волновал. Например, решили издавать газету тиражом полмиллиона экземпляров (население острова — примерно 25 млн человек — „Проект“). Пока на корабле плывут типографии, самолетом привезли 50 ризографов. И никого не волнует, что на них выпустят 500 экземпляров, а потом ризографы не потребуются. Нужно было просто получить деньги и потратить их», — описывает один из политтехнологов.

Кроме того, вскоре стало очевидно, что переизбрать главу государства не получится. «Он просто ничего не делал!» — возмущается один из политтехнологов. По его словам, сотрудники штаба президента детально расписали консультантам, какая помощь от России им требуется: новое оружие и форма для армии, пять военных вертолетов, гуманитарные грузы (например, обсуждалась идея выдавать в день выборов по пять килограмм риса — дорогой подарок для Мадагаскара), помощь для борьбы с последствиями шторма . «Написали смету примерно на $100 миллионов. Фактически это были взятки», — говорит собеседник «Проекта», уточняя, что эту «помощь» политик так и не получил.

Пессимистичный прогноз оправдался: Радзаунаримампианина набрал 7 ноября 2018 года чуть меньше 9% голосов и не прошел во второй тур. Но еще за несколько месяцев до дня голосования эксперты начали искать нового кандидата, с которым можно было бы победить. В результате ставку сделали еще на шестерых политиков, но их результаты тоже были печальны . Полный список кандидатов, с которыми работали российские политтехнологи, «Проекту» предоставил малагасийский политик, присутствовавший при встречах; российский политтехнолог и трое активистов-жителей Мадагаскара подтвердили, что с перечисленными кандидатами взаимодействовали политконсультанты. Всем им политтехнологи обещали финансирование, и все они остались недовольны консультантами, но боятся об этом говорить, опасаясь за свою безопасность , говорит малагасийский политик.

Ближе к концу предвыборной кампании политтехнологи взялись помогать Андри Радзуэлине: ездили по регионам и готовили социологические исследования, проводили опросы, писали аналитику. 19 декабря Радзуэлина во втором туре получил большинство голосов, но приписать эту победу себе консультанты Пригожина вряд ли могут: так, кандидат уже занимал пост главы государства, был одним из фаворитов гонки, а его избрание поддержал Китай.

Впрочем , как объясняет один из политтехнологов, политтехнологи были лишь бонусом к другой помощи — в сфере военного сотрудничества и геологоразведки.

Сколько набрали кандидаты Пригожина в первом туре

Остров золота

Российская компания занимается на Мадагаскаре добычей хрома и ведет переговоры о добыче золота. Фирма связана с политтехнологами Пригожина, а на острове ее представляет бывший сотрудник Минобороны.

В течение последнего года «Федеральное агентство новостей» устами экспертов обещало России невероятные перспективы от сотрудничества с Мадагаскаром: добыча нефти , поставки ванили и сельскохозяйственной продукции , утилизация мусора и строительные проекты , включая обновление порта Туамасины . «Еще Петр Первый в 1721 году направлял письмо мальгашскому царю с предложением о сотрудничестве», — отмечалось в публикации агентства «ФАН».

С Росгеологией министерство горнодобывающей и нефтяной промышленности Мадагаскара на последнем Петербургском экономическом форуме подписало меморандум о взаимопонимании, который предусматривает оценку нынешних запасов полезных ископаемых и поиск новых месторождений. «У нас работает российское предприятие в области добычи хрома. И сейчас ищут возможность работать в области добычи золота», — говорил в мае 2018 года нынешний министр иностранных дел Мадагаскара Элуа Дуву, много лет проработавший послом в Москве. Речь, вероятно, идет о фирме Ferrum Mining, она косвенно связана с Минобороны и добывает хромит — минерал хрома.

В России у Ferrum Mining лишь один сотрудник, уставной капитал в десять тысяч рублей и нет финансовой отчетности , следует из данных «СПАРК-Интерфакса». Компанию зарегистрировали в Петербурге в ноябре 2017 года, как раз когда у Пригожина возник интерес к Африке. По уставным документам фирма может заниматься как добычей руд, нефти, угля, драгоценных металлов и камней, так и сельским хозяйством, лесозаготовкой и торговлей. Кроме того, фирме разрешено создать свое частное охранное предприятие.

На Мадагаскаре же Ferrum Mining — это компания, которая должна была помочь государственной Kraomita Malagasy, оказавшейся в сложном финансовом положении. В августе-сентября 2018 года стороны подписали соглашение, которое предусматривало создание совместного предприятия — Kraoma Mining , следует из соглашения, которое есть в распоряжении «Проекта», его подлинность подтвердил малагасийский политик, попросивший об анонимности из соображений безопасности; выдержки из документа ранее публиковало малагасийское издание «Malina». Партнерство сулило Kraomita Malagasy инвестиции в размере $16 млн, а также погашение долгов по зарплате. По условиям документа совместное предприятие должно было в течение 5 лет добыть 3 млн тонн руды , следует из материалов Ferrum Mining.

22 октября контракт вступил в силу, в этот же день началась добыча полезных ископаемых. Но еще до этого Kraomita Malagasy выплатила около $400 тысяч — на зарплату сотрудникам за сентябрь и октябрь и на медикаменты. Кто именно и за что получил эти деньги, осталось загадкой, что вызвало недовольство профсоюза , следует из письма гендиректора Kraoma Mining. Уже зимой рабочие объявили забастовку : они требовали погасить долги и выступали против непрозрачного партнерства с российской фирмой , в Ferrum Mining и в Kraomita Malagasy не ответили на запросы «Проекта».

Под африканские проекты Ferrum Mining создала сайт: «Компания обладает необходимыми лицензиями и ведет работу на месторождениях на территории Республики Мадагаскар. Геологоразведочные работы в рамках развития перспективных проектов ведутся на территории Республики Судан, Республики Зимбабве и некоторых других государств». Впрочем, при регистрации web-адреса не обошлось без курьезов. Фирма сделала сразу два сайта: первым 9 ноября 2018 года , по данным регистратора Reg.ru, появился ferrummaining.com; вероятно, через некоторое время в названии заметили ошибку, после чего возник второй сайт — ferrummining.com. Содержание страниц идентично.

От лица Ferrum Mining договор о создании совместного предприятия подписал некто Евгений Валентинович Осипов, а всего на острове работали еще как минимум девять сотрудников , следует из материалов компании, которые есть в распоряжении «Проекта». Один из них — Владимир Мальковский из Татарстана. Он несколько раз публиковал свое резюме на профильных сайтах. В качестве желаемой позиции он указывал «маркшейдер», то есть специалист по геодезическим съемкам горных разработок. А главный техник Валерий Карявкин, который участвовал в переговорах с малагасийскими рабочими, раньше трудился в структуре Минобороны: он был заместителем гендиректора главного управления жилищно-коммунального хозяйства военного ведомства и отвечал за материально-техническое обеспечение , следует из материалов госзакупок.

В сентябре 2018 года малагасийская госкомпания пригласила сотрудников российской Ferrum Mining приехать на остров.

Геологи из Ferrum Mining тесно общались с российскими политтехнологами, а сама компания занимается не только хромитом, но и ведет переговоры о добыче золота , утверждает малагасийский политик, попросивший об анонимности; о том, что на Мадагаскаре работали не только политтехнологи, но и геологи, «Проекту» также рассказал один из консультантов, побывавший на острове. Со структурами Пригожина Ferrum Mining связывают финансовые отношения: компания получала кредиты от фирм ресторатора , утверждает собеседник, знакомый с отчетностью Ferrum Mining.

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Эффективность работы на Мадагаскаре была невелика. Ни один из кандидатов, с кем первоначально работали политтехнологи, не прошел во второй тур. А проект по добыче хромита в конце 2018 года был приостановлен из-за забастовки рабочих.

«Петербургский центр», по словам одного из политтехнологов, тоже оставлял желать лучшего: «Однажды в два часа ночи сотрудницу центра осенило, что система выборов во Франции очень похожа на систему выборов на Мадагаскаре и что это нужно обязательно использовать. Тот факт, что Мадагаскар — бывшая французская колония, от нее как-то ускользнул».

«Можем лишь, например, отправить баскетбольную команду на показательные игры на Мадагаскар или организовать визит малагасийской делегации в Петербург, как это было уже в случае с чиновниками из ЦАР », — шутит собеседник «Проекта».

Пресс-секретарь президента Дмитрий Песков сказал «Проекту», что в Кремле ничего не знают о работе структур Пригожина на Мадагаскаре; в пресс-службе бизнесмена работу на Мадагаскаре отрицают.