Ultimatum to the Russian elite?
An influential journal of the United States, American Interest, published an article by the well-known liberal economist and sociologist Vladislav Inozemtsev (in the photo), in which he offers the States a “rational and low-cost" way to neutralize the "Russian threat": Americans cynically offer Americans to buy Russia.
The author of the article notes that the emphasis on force deterrence, which is preferred in the USA today, is too expensive: only in 2017, their military expenditures will amount to almost 600 billion dollars. and asks, from his point of view, a logical question: “Why does the West need to drain its resources if Russia is not ruled by Stalin — or Hitler-like leaders obsessed with world-dominated ideologies — but rather, by a group of entrepreneurs who keep their money in Western banks buy real estate in the West, teach their children in Western universities and have passports and even temporary residence permits. ”
Corporation "Russia"
“These people,” writes Inozemtsev, “would not have ruled Russia as they are doing now, if they really wanted to rule in the world.” In his opinion, the Russian elite only seeks to “gain material benefits from the ownership of a corporation called“ Russia ”... And in the corporate world, the best possible steps that should be taken in relation to a small but aggressive company is an attempt to buy it and turn it on into a larger business conglomerate. "
The author of the article emphasizes that this, of course, is not about buying a territory, natural wealth or people, but about assets that the Russian ruling class considers its property.
At the same time, it is proposed to take the value of all Russian companies whose shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange as the basis for calculating the price of such a transaction. "On 1 August 2017, it was 33,6 trillion rubles, or about 559 billion dollars, that is, about the same as the cost of Alphabet or Microsoft," - said Inozemtsev. There are, of course, still private assets, as well as revenues received from state unitary corporations, therefore it is reasonable to increase this figure by one and a half to two times. “But even if we double the above-mentioned figure, we’ll get a total of 1,1 – 1,2 trillion dollars,” the Russian liberal calms down the Americans.
“Until now, the assets controlled by the Russian elite had a positive profit in the amount of 10 – 12% of their market value - or approximately 65 – 85 billion dollars annually, the author of the article calculated. “This figure actually coincides with the volume of net capital outflow from Russia: according to the Bank of Russia, from 2008 to 2016, the outflow of capital in total amounted to 644,7 billion dollars.”
“What will happen if all these people offer a“ fair ”price for their property — for example, 2 trillion dollars, which is 30 times their net annual income? Will these people bargain hard if a serious buyer offers them a good price? ”, The author of the article seduces the Americans. The Russian oligarchs, I am sure, Inozemtsev will be happy to seize such an opportunity, since “the overwhelming majority of the representatives of the Russian elite are prepared for losing all their assets.”
“2 trillion dollars is less than half of that amount (4,79 trillion dollars) that the US has already spent on the senseless war in Iraq,” the author explains. - These are about two US military budgets (in the 2017 / 18 fiscal year, the US military budget will be 824,7 billion dollars). 2 trillion is one-tenth of the US federal debt or the amount by which this debt increases every two years. ”
“Buying Russia,” the Foreigners cynically advises the US, “will be the best investment the US government has ever made.” The cost of Russian companies is seriously underestimated and makes up only a small part of the value of their American counterparts. If a more responsible leadership and a more transparent judicial system emerges in Russia, these assets will increase in price by at least five times. ”
Crime immunity
And then the author of the idea of "selling Russia" goes to the most important thing for those who have made huge amounts of money on the robbery of Russia, and now he is afraid of losing them or is afraid that he will have to answer for the crimes committed. “Before concluding this transaction,” he writes, “all representatives of Russia will receive immunity from prosecution for committing financial crimes, that all money held in conditional deposit accounts will be exempt from any checks and that participants in the transaction selling assets worth more than 20 million dollars, will receive passports of western countries or permits for permanent residence ”.
Thus, the money that the West spends on this transaction will remain within Western economies and will be reinvested in real estate, stocks and other assets in developed countries.
“At the same time, Western companies will get a huge new market, huge reserves of resources and talents,” the Russian liberal seduces Americans, hinting that now the former businessman Donald Trump was at the head of the White House, his idea can be realized.
“Someone may say that this project is too unrealistic, because politics and business must be combined in it,” explains the author of the idea. “I can agree with this, but perhaps we should still try to implement it, since politics and business are already closely intertwined in the figure of a man who now holds the post of head of the White House.”
Well, as they say, all masks are reset. In this article with the utmost cynicism, all the goals and objectives that Russian liberals and corrupt oligarchic capital have set themselves are revealed. Having robbed the country in 90-s and having concentrated enormous wealth in their hands, they are ready to save them, in the most literal sense, to sell Russia to the Americans and make them a concrete and well-reasoned proposal for them.
And they do it not from a good life. First, they fear that Vladimir Putin will win again in the upcoming presidential election and, not without reason, suggest that he will start pursuing an even tougher policy towards the corrupt and the oligarchs who continue to rob Russia, and will finally strike at undermining the interests of Russia and trying to split her "fifth column" of the liberals.
Audit of the Russian elite
And secondly, they are frightened by the new sanctions announced by Trump. The US sanctions document states that within 180 days after the law entered into force (that is, until February 2018), the Minister of Finance, in consultation with the Director of the National Intelligence Service and the head of the State Department, must submit to the Congress detailed reports on the financial activities of the leading and influential foreign policy figures and oligarchs of the Russian Federation.
Thus, we are talking about the verification of financial activities for the corruption component of not only the Russian political leadership, including all members of the Government of the Russian Federation, deputies of the State Duma, members of the Federation Council, but also oligarchs.
At the same time, Russian oligarchs are subject to financial verification, regardless of whether they are tax residents of Russia or not.
The Americans proceed from the fact that, in one way or another, the property of Russian oligarchs is abroad, and they cannot hide it. The 105 sanctions law page states that in order to assist NATO and the European Union, the United States is obliged to work individually with the countries of Europe and Eurasia in identifying corruption components associated with Russian companies. We are talking about the work of American structures with the countries of the European Union and the CIS, including Belarus and Kazakhstan, using all the levers of political and economic influence on these countries, up to the threat of sanctions against them in the event of non-cooperation.
As for the NATO countries, where Russian oligarchs hold most of their property, the United States will act based on the NATO charter, which provides that the special services of the NATO countries are obliged to assist the NATO member country if it receives information about the aggressive actions of a third country aimed at against her interests. Such a third country the United States called the Russian Federation. Consequently, the special services of all other NATO countries are obliged to assist the United States in conducting an inspection to identify the corruption component of Russian or affiliated companies operating in these countries.
The American law on sanctions sets four tasks for the inspection bodies: 1) identifying influential people in Russian politics and oligarchs in terms of their proximity to the political regime in Russia; 2) determination of their financial condition (that is, the presence of their net assets in the accounts and in the form of property); 3) evaluation of the connection between political figures of Russia and oligarchs with President Putin personally or with other persons of the Russian elite; 4) identification of signs of corruption related to the above persons, as well as the sources of income of these persons and their family members.
In this case, the object of checking the financial activities of Russian politicians and oligarchs are also their close relatives. It is curious that as soon as the law on new sanctions was passed, it became known about the unexpected divorce of the oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Apparently, his lawyers conducted an analysis and concluded that Abramovich falls under the law on anti-Russian sanctions. Therefore, they are supposed to divorce his wife not because he stopped loving her, but because the law on sanctions says that family members are close relatives: spouses, children, parents, brothers and sisters. The former wife is no longer a member of the family from a legal point of view. And since Americans are terrible formalists, this information may not be included in the report to the US Congress. So in the near future we should expect other divorces of homegrown oligarchs.
US revision of privatization results
The new law also speaks of the need to identify non-Russian affiliated businesses of Russian oligarchs. We are talking not only about the American structures of our rich people, but also about their businesses in other countries. In addition, the law provides for an assessment of the creation (establishment) of Russian parastatal organizations and their role in the Russian Federation. Under parastatal organizations, the law on sanctions refers to those organizations where a certain percentage of property belongs to the state.
So we are talking about re-evaluating the results - terrible news for our oligarchs! - privatization of state-owned companies. In other words, the Americans intend to conduct a full audit of Russian privatization.
This law covers not only Russian companies, but all Russian oligarchs without exception, all members of the Government of the Russian Federation, all deputies of the State Duma and all members of the Federation Council, as well as their close relatives. For example, adult children of State Duma who live abroad abroad, of which there are many, are also subject to verification for sources of income. All properties of the Russian political elite and their close relatives, as well as their bank accounts located abroad, will be subject to verification for a corruption component. All this vividly shows how the United States, by arresting assets or other similar means, can deliver an ultimatum to our entire economic and political elite.
A plea for mercy
This ultimatum is that if the oligarchs and the Russian political elite, which influence the governance of the country, and at the same time have assets abroad, are registered both to themselves and to close relatives or to front or February 2018 will not replace the current leadership of Russia, and we are talking specifically about President Putin, then all their assets will be arrested as corrupt ones.
Therefore, the current publication in the American Interest, setting forth a seemingly crazy idea of “selling Russia,” is in fact a testimony of a panic that engulfed the corrupt part of the liberal elite and those who fed from their handouts. After all, it was not by chance that it was voiced by Inozemtsev, one of the signatories of the appeal of the Russian opposition “Putin Must Leave”, who is a member of the Russian Council on International Affairs (INF) created in 2011 by order of Dmitry Medvedev. The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs is also a co-founder of the INF. The media calls this organization "one of the instruments of public diplomacy and the" soft power "of Russia in the world." The oligarchs, the liberal opposition and the corrupt part of the political beau monde are well aware that Putin enjoys such strong support from the people and power structures in Russia that they will not be able to fulfill the US demand for its elimination, and therefore begin to beg Trump to spare them, cynically in return. buy Russia. "
The author of the article notes that the emphasis on force deterrence, which is preferred in the USA today, is too expensive: only in 2017, their military expenditures will amount to almost 600 billion dollars. and asks, from his point of view, a logical question: “Why does the West need to drain its resources if Russia is not ruled by Stalin — or Hitler-like leaders obsessed with world-dominated ideologies — but rather, by a group of entrepreneurs who keep their money in Western banks buy real estate in the West, teach their children in Western universities and have passports and even temporary residence permits. ”
Corporation "Russia"
“These people,” writes Inozemtsev, “would not have ruled Russia as they are doing now, if they really wanted to rule in the world.” In his opinion, the Russian elite only seeks to “gain material benefits from the ownership of a corporation called“ Russia ”... And in the corporate world, the best possible steps that should be taken in relation to a small but aggressive company is an attempt to buy it and turn it on into a larger business conglomerate. "
The author of the article emphasizes that this, of course, is not about buying a territory, natural wealth or people, but about assets that the Russian ruling class considers its property.
At the same time, it is proposed to take the value of all Russian companies whose shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange as the basis for calculating the price of such a transaction. "On 1 August 2017, it was 33,6 trillion rubles, or about 559 billion dollars, that is, about the same as the cost of Alphabet or Microsoft," - said Inozemtsev. There are, of course, still private assets, as well as revenues received from state unitary corporations, therefore it is reasonable to increase this figure by one and a half to two times. “But even if we double the above-mentioned figure, we’ll get a total of 1,1 – 1,2 trillion dollars,” the Russian liberal calms down the Americans.
“Until now, the assets controlled by the Russian elite had a positive profit in the amount of 10 – 12% of their market value - or approximately 65 – 85 billion dollars annually, the author of the article calculated. “This figure actually coincides with the volume of net capital outflow from Russia: according to the Bank of Russia, from 2008 to 2016, the outflow of capital in total amounted to 644,7 billion dollars.”
“What will happen if all these people offer a“ fair ”price for their property — for example, 2 trillion dollars, which is 30 times their net annual income? Will these people bargain hard if a serious buyer offers them a good price? ”, The author of the article seduces the Americans. The Russian oligarchs, I am sure, Inozemtsev will be happy to seize such an opportunity, since “the overwhelming majority of the representatives of the Russian elite are prepared for losing all their assets.”
“2 trillion dollars is less than half of that amount (4,79 trillion dollars) that the US has already spent on the senseless war in Iraq,” the author explains. - These are about two US military budgets (in the 2017 / 18 fiscal year, the US military budget will be 824,7 billion dollars). 2 trillion is one-tenth of the US federal debt or the amount by which this debt increases every two years. ”
“Buying Russia,” the Foreigners cynically advises the US, “will be the best investment the US government has ever made.” The cost of Russian companies is seriously underestimated and makes up only a small part of the value of their American counterparts. If a more responsible leadership and a more transparent judicial system emerges in Russia, these assets will increase in price by at least five times. ”
Crime immunity
And then the author of the idea of "selling Russia" goes to the most important thing for those who have made huge amounts of money on the robbery of Russia, and now he is afraid of losing them or is afraid that he will have to answer for the crimes committed. “Before concluding this transaction,” he writes, “all representatives of Russia will receive immunity from prosecution for committing financial crimes, that all money held in conditional deposit accounts will be exempt from any checks and that participants in the transaction selling assets worth more than 20 million dollars, will receive passports of western countries or permits for permanent residence ”.
Thus, the money that the West spends on this transaction will remain within Western economies and will be reinvested in real estate, stocks and other assets in developed countries.
“At the same time, Western companies will get a huge new market, huge reserves of resources and talents,” the Russian liberal seduces Americans, hinting that now the former businessman Donald Trump was at the head of the White House, his idea can be realized.
“Someone may say that this project is too unrealistic, because politics and business must be combined in it,” explains the author of the idea. “I can agree with this, but perhaps we should still try to implement it, since politics and business are already closely intertwined in the figure of a man who now holds the post of head of the White House.”
Well, as they say, all masks are reset. In this article with the utmost cynicism, all the goals and objectives that Russian liberals and corrupt oligarchic capital have set themselves are revealed. Having robbed the country in 90-s and having concentrated enormous wealth in their hands, they are ready to save them, in the most literal sense, to sell Russia to the Americans and make them a concrete and well-reasoned proposal for them.
And they do it not from a good life. First, they fear that Vladimir Putin will win again in the upcoming presidential election and, not without reason, suggest that he will start pursuing an even tougher policy towards the corrupt and the oligarchs who continue to rob Russia, and will finally strike at undermining the interests of Russia and trying to split her "fifth column" of the liberals.
Audit of the Russian elite
And secondly, they are frightened by the new sanctions announced by Trump. The US sanctions document states that within 180 days after the law entered into force (that is, until February 2018), the Minister of Finance, in consultation with the Director of the National Intelligence Service and the head of the State Department, must submit to the Congress detailed reports on the financial activities of the leading and influential foreign policy figures and oligarchs of the Russian Federation.
Thus, we are talking about the verification of financial activities for the corruption component of not only the Russian political leadership, including all members of the Government of the Russian Federation, deputies of the State Duma, members of the Federation Council, but also oligarchs.
At the same time, Russian oligarchs are subject to financial verification, regardless of whether they are tax residents of Russia or not.
The Americans proceed from the fact that, in one way or another, the property of Russian oligarchs is abroad, and they cannot hide it. The 105 sanctions law page states that in order to assist NATO and the European Union, the United States is obliged to work individually with the countries of Europe and Eurasia in identifying corruption components associated with Russian companies. We are talking about the work of American structures with the countries of the European Union and the CIS, including Belarus and Kazakhstan, using all the levers of political and economic influence on these countries, up to the threat of sanctions against them in the event of non-cooperation.
As for the NATO countries, where Russian oligarchs hold most of their property, the United States will act based on the NATO charter, which provides that the special services of the NATO countries are obliged to assist the NATO member country if it receives information about the aggressive actions of a third country aimed at against her interests. Such a third country the United States called the Russian Federation. Consequently, the special services of all other NATO countries are obliged to assist the United States in conducting an inspection to identify the corruption component of Russian or affiliated companies operating in these countries.
The American law on sanctions sets four tasks for the inspection bodies: 1) identifying influential people in Russian politics and oligarchs in terms of their proximity to the political regime in Russia; 2) determination of their financial condition (that is, the presence of their net assets in the accounts and in the form of property); 3) evaluation of the connection between political figures of Russia and oligarchs with President Putin personally or with other persons of the Russian elite; 4) identification of signs of corruption related to the above persons, as well as the sources of income of these persons and their family members.
In this case, the object of checking the financial activities of Russian politicians and oligarchs are also their close relatives. It is curious that as soon as the law on new sanctions was passed, it became known about the unexpected divorce of the oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Apparently, his lawyers conducted an analysis and concluded that Abramovich falls under the law on anti-Russian sanctions. Therefore, they are supposed to divorce his wife not because he stopped loving her, but because the law on sanctions says that family members are close relatives: spouses, children, parents, brothers and sisters. The former wife is no longer a member of the family from a legal point of view. And since Americans are terrible formalists, this information may not be included in the report to the US Congress. So in the near future we should expect other divorces of homegrown oligarchs.
US revision of privatization results
The new law also speaks of the need to identify non-Russian affiliated businesses of Russian oligarchs. We are talking not only about the American structures of our rich people, but also about their businesses in other countries. In addition, the law provides for an assessment of the creation (establishment) of Russian parastatal organizations and their role in the Russian Federation. Under parastatal organizations, the law on sanctions refers to those organizations where a certain percentage of property belongs to the state.
So we are talking about re-evaluating the results - terrible news for our oligarchs! - privatization of state-owned companies. In other words, the Americans intend to conduct a full audit of Russian privatization.
This law covers not only Russian companies, but all Russian oligarchs without exception, all members of the Government of the Russian Federation, all deputies of the State Duma and all members of the Federation Council, as well as their close relatives. For example, adult children of State Duma who live abroad abroad, of which there are many, are also subject to verification for sources of income. All properties of the Russian political elite and their close relatives, as well as their bank accounts located abroad, will be subject to verification for a corruption component. All this vividly shows how the United States, by arresting assets or other similar means, can deliver an ultimatum to our entire economic and political elite.
A plea for mercy
This ultimatum is that if the oligarchs and the Russian political elite, which influence the governance of the country, and at the same time have assets abroad, are registered both to themselves and to close relatives or to front or February 2018 will not replace the current leadership of Russia, and we are talking specifically about President Putin, then all their assets will be arrested as corrupt ones.
Therefore, the current publication in the American Interest, setting forth a seemingly crazy idea of “selling Russia,” is in fact a testimony of a panic that engulfed the corrupt part of the liberal elite and those who fed from their handouts. After all, it was not by chance that it was voiced by Inozemtsev, one of the signatories of the appeal of the Russian opposition “Putin Must Leave”, who is a member of the Russian Council on International Affairs (INF) created in 2011 by order of Dmitry Medvedev. The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs is also a co-founder of the INF. The media calls this organization "one of the instruments of public diplomacy and the" soft power "of Russia in the world." The oligarchs, the liberal opposition and the corrupt part of the political beau monde are well aware that Putin enjoys such strong support from the people and power structures in Russia that they will not be able to fulfill the US demand for its elimination, and therefore begin to beg Trump to spare them, cynically in return. buy Russia. "
Information