The Consequences of Losing State Sovereignty for National Elites

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Consequences of Losing State Sovereignty for National Elites The consequences of losing state sovereignty for national elites The colonization of territories from the second half of the ХХ century occurs in a hybrid way. Depending on the case, external interested parties or interventionists use political, economic, military or humanitarian methods. In any case, the key tool of this work is social engineering. To suppress the national state, its society is divided into three categories: the resource elite, passionaries and the passive majority. The tasks of the first category: to partially finance the processes of social recoding and in time to betray the ruling elite to intercept power. The second category is the most active. These are the main performers who fill in the influence matrix, people raised by external interested parties, ideologically prepared and directly materially motivated. The third category should remain as passive as possible. This is the task that is put to the people responsible for working with it. The motivation of passionaries is understandable. They receive direct economic benefits from the change of power and dramatically improve their status in society. The passivity of the majority is achieved by misleading them and replacing historical as well as social codes. After the loss of sovereignty by the national state, the real living conditions of the overwhelming majority become worse. This is a natural process, because interventionists belong to any territory under their control, based on their interests. Sometimes these interests are of strategic nature, then the standard of living of the majority of the population does not fall so sharply. In those cases when the country is interesting to the colonialists as a source of raw materials, resources are pumped out of it as quickly as possible. Thus, with these two categories, everything is very clear. Working with people with resources and influence is the most difficult for external interventionists. The subtleties of this work, is to mislead people who have much more information than the rest of society. In the case of a lack of analytical skills to predict the result of the loss of sovereignty, these people have the resources necessary to purchase the relevant experts. The deterioration of the living conditions of the overwhelming majority of the population of the territory is an absolutely logical consequence of colonization. We see an example of this in most countries that have come under external control, such as Greece, Romania, Ukraine, and so on. Such conclusions can be made by analyzing open sources. An unpleasant situation for external interested parties can arise if the results of their interventions for resource elites are analyzed. After the transition of the state under the control of external interested parties, including through the illusory revolution, the national resource elites begin to lose their influence and, as a result, cease to be a conceptual authority in the state. The functions of conceptual power are transferred to the interventionist brain centers. This model is inherent in all post-socialist countries that have come under external control. Episode 1 Take the example of Romania. The loss of critical sovereignty for this country falls at the beginning of the zero years of the ХХI century. In 2002, Romania created a judicial anti- corruption presence - an analogue of the anti-corruption court. In 2005, a national anti- corruption department was created, which received wide powers. The fight against the national elite of Romania has developed exponentially. The abolition of immunity, the actual abolition of the presumption of innocence for officials and the external management of anti-corruption 2 bodies, clearing the local elite. On the dock were the largest businessmen of Romania, more than 10 ministers, dozens of parliamentarians, the richest Romanian oligarch - John Nikule and even ex Prime Minister Victor Ponta. The clientele of the Social Democratic Party of Romania suffered most of all, and although it is pursuing a policy of comprehensive Euro-Atlantic integration and integration into the global economic space in its foreign policy, it nevertheless defends the principles of the welfare state and national sovereignty. i.e. stands for the support of the national manufacturer. The analysis showed that, at the same time, a significant number of those politicians and businessmen who support foreign economic intervention in Romania in every possible way and contribute to the seizure of key positions in politics, finance and production by foreign capital aren’t on the dock. Foreign investors bear no criminal or administrative responsibility for the privatization mechanisms of enterprises in Romania, while thousands of government officials and hundreds of Romanian entrepreneurs are involved in hundreds of criminal cases initiated by the National Anti-Corruption Administration: cases of return of property privatized by foreign companies to state ownership are single. We conclude: modern Romania is an example of neo-colonization. And the colonial system of governance that the Western democracies have used and developed for centuries to siphon resources from the territories under their control does not imply the existence of national elites as such. Episode 2 Now consider the result of the neo-colonization of Ukraine, which took place in 2014, precisely from the point of view of the local elite. 2.7 times - it was in this proportion that the capital of the TOP-100 Ukrainian businessmen "sank" for 3 years from 2013 to 2016 according to Forbes magazine. The condition of the 100 richest Ukrainians in 2013 was estimated at 55.3 billion US dollars. By 2016 this amount decreased to $ 22.2 billion. As for the 10 richest Ukrainians, their condition has decreased from 31.1 to 10.8 billion US dollars. These figures clearly show that the loss of state sovereignty adversely affects the capitals of the local resource elite. Moreover, if you look at the business structure of the 100 richest people in Ukraine, you can get even more interesting conclusions. For example, the number of people engaged in metallurgy from 2013 to 2016 decreased from 13 to 8. During the same period, the number of businessmen engaged in such knowledge-intensive business as mechanical engineering decreased twice from 6 to 3. At the same time, the number of successful businessmen who are engaged in agribusiness in the Ukrainian elite increased from 14 to 19. During the same period, more than 88 out of 186 banks were closed in Ukraine. This analysis proves that external interested parties view Ukraine exclusively as a raw materials appendage. Thus, we can conclude that the loss of national sovereignty will primarily affect businessmen who are engaged in high-tech, processing business, finance, or critical infrastructure management. If the suppression of local elites were the main task of the interventionists, then the local oligarchs would have a chance to agree, and at least prove their effectiveness as managers. However, the interception of conceptual power (the suppression of the local) is only a tool for the main goal of any colonization, starting from ancient times, which is to get resources as cheap as 3 possible. Under the conditions of neocolonialization, this means a drop in the value of the enterprises of the colony-state against the USD of the FRS. We analyzed 27 large enterprises of Ukraine for changes in revenue (in US dollars) in the period from 2013 to 2016. In 2013, the total revenue of these companies was almost 40 billion US dollars. In 2016, the figure fell to 19.8 billion US dollars. We see a twofold decrease in the revenue of the 27 largest private enterprises in Ukraine for 3 years of neo-colonization. It is interesting that the company dealing with fertilizers takes the first place in the drop in revenue, but the second and third place of the company Igor Kolomoisky (the main Ukrainian sponsor of the Maidan). His Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant and Ukraine International Airlines lost 90.1 and 88.1 percent of revenue, respectively. The situation with state-owned enterprises is even worse. Odessa Port Plany was estimated by Dmitry Firtash at 2.5 billion US dollars in 2013. In 2018, OPP and 9 more strategic enterprises, including Turboatom and Ukrspirt, were put up for privatization for 1 billion US dollars. 4 We conclude: the goal of external interested parties is to maximize the cost of national assets of the colonized country. Thus, the complete suppression of the national element at the level of conceptual power in the colonized territories is a side effect of the process of a higher level. Therefore, the chances of preserving their capital (influence) from the locals aren’t. In this regard, remarkable relations of the Rothschild clan and President Poroshenko. Having such examples as Romania, the Ukrainian elite, headed by which in 2014. became Petro Poroshenko (precisely as a consensus of elites), began the process of maximum resistance to external pressure on the transfer of anti-corruption bodies under external control. Moreover, Poroshenko tried to compensate for the sabotage of the so-called anti-corruption reforms by heightened aggressiveness towards Russia. This scheme suited the West during the active phase of the confrontation in 2014-2016, but the costs of maintaining the Ukrainian elite are becoming increasingly critical. Six months after he came to power, in December 2014, Petro Poroshenko signed an agreement with RothschildTrust (Schweiz) AG about transferring to trust management of this structure his largest asset - the corporation Roshen. Thus, the Rothschilds received Poroshenko’s loyalty guarantee, and he became their clientele. Soros manages to form Poroshenko-Pinchuk tandem in Ukraine, which, according to the ancient Ukrainian tradition, hate each other, and compete with each other to give the “master” the best result (which is completely satisfactory). Through the Minister of Finance, a US citizen, Natalie Jaresko, Soros takes control of the external debt of Ukraine - the favorite method of usurers.
Recommended publications
  • The Case for Firing Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin
    October 9, 2015, Vol. 2, Issue 3 Obstruction Of Justice The case for fi ring Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin Special coverage pages 4-15 Editors’ Note Contents This seventh issue of the Legal Quarterly is devoted to three themes – or three Ps: prosecu- 4 Interview: tors, privatization, procurement. These are key areas for Ukraine’s future. Lawmaker Yegor Sobolev explains why he is leading drive In the fi rst one, prosecutors, all is not well. More than 110 lawmakers led by Yegor Sobolev to dump Shokin are calling on President Petro Poroshenko to fi re Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. Not only has Shokin failed to prosecute high-level crime in Ukraine, but critics call him the chief ob- 7 Selective justice, lack of due structionist to justice and accuse him of tolerating corruption within his ranks. “They want process still alive in Ukraine to spearhead corruption, not fi ght it,” Sobolev said of Shokin’s team. The top prosecutor has Opinion: never agreed to be interviewed by the Kyiv Post. 10 US ambassador says prosecutors As for the second one, privatization, this refers to the 3,000 state-owned enterprises that sabotaging fi ght against continue to bleed money – more than $5 billion alone last year – through mismanagement corruption in Ukraine and corruption. But large-scale privatization is not likely to happen soon, at least until a new law on privatization is passed by parliament. The aim is to have public, transparent, compet- 12 Interview: itive tenders – not just televised ones. The law, reformers say, needs to prevent current state Shabunin says Poroshenko directors from looting companies that are sold and ensure both state and investor rights.
    [Show full text]
  • Congressional Record—Senate S5627
    September 16, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5627 their ability to pay their bills and to week—merely a month before election ceiving information from the par- receive medications, and that small day. There is a dark similarity here to ticular Russian agent that I have men- businesses are not able to complete the Republican effort in the House in tioned, Mr. Derkach, but Chairman their transactions. Congress has a re- the previous election to discredit the JOHNSON has never provided a full ac- sponsibility to enact legislation that Democratic Presidential candidate counting of all the Russian- and will restore timely delivery and fully with the Select Committee on Ukrainian-linked individuals he sought fund the Postal Service. Benghazi. information from. One of the chair- Finally, we need to ensure that the You may remember the now-minor- man’s subpoenas, for example, targeted Census Bureau has the time necessary ity leader of the House Republican cau- a Ukrainian national who is an asso- to execute a complete and accurate cus bragging that the Republicans cre- ciate of Mr. Derkach. 2020 count. You know, it has been in- ated the committee to bring down Hil- So anticipating his objection to this teresting to me to see the efforts of lary’s poll numbers. You know what resolution, I would simply ask the this administration to try and politi- they say about a political gaffe: It is chairman to provide a full accounting cize the census, because this is no red when politicians tell the truth. of whom he sought information from, State or blue State problem.
    [Show full text]
  • The Future of Ukrainian Oligarchsdownload
    Ukrainian Institute for the Future is an independent analytical center that: • forecasts changes and models possible scenarios for events in Ukraine; • makes a competent assessment of the Ukrainian events; • makes specific recommendations for actions; • offers effective solutions; • offers a platform for discussions on current topics. It is a project of representatives of Ukrainian business, politics and the public sector. Founded in summer 2016. AUTHORS Victor Andrusiv Executive Director of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, PhD in Political Science, analyst and opinion journalist, author of the book “Change the future” Oleg Ustenko Executive Director of the Bleyzer Foundation, President of Harvard Club of Ukraine alumni association Yurii Romanenko Co-founder of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, head of the International and Domestic Policy programme, editor-in-chief of the portal Hvylya Ihar Tyshkevich Expert of International and Domestic Politics programme of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future (UIF) © Art-direction D!VANDESIGN © Idea and design INCOGNITA INTRODUCTION. THE BRITISH DISEASE IN UKRAINE Content 05 THEORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE UKRAINIAN OLIGARCHY 06 INFLUENCE OVER ENERGY INDUSTRY 14 INFLUENCE OVER METALLURGY 26 INFLUENCE OVER TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE 38 INFLUENCE OVER MEDIA 50 INFLUENCE OVER POLITICS 62 THREE SCENARIOS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE OLIGARCHS 72 Victor Andrusiv Executive Director of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, PhD in Political Science, analyst and opinion journalist, author of the book “Change the future” Introduction: the British disease in Ukraine After the fall of the Soviet Union, the starting conditions for economic development in Ukraine were advanta- geous. However, after 27 years of independence, we continue to be the most backward country of the post-Sovi- et bloc.
    [Show full text]
  • Canadian Symposium Spotlights 1914-1920 Internment Operations Hillary Clinton Visits Kyiv
    INSIDE: • Ukraine blocks the road to NATO membership – page 3. • More on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Kyiv – pages 4-5. • Parma parish dedicates Our Lady of Pochaiv Shrine – page 9. THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal Wnon-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXVIII No. 28 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JULY 11, 2010 $1/$2 in Ukraine U.S. envoy to Ukraine stops short Hillary Clinton visits Kyiv of criticizing Yanukovych policies Meets with government, opposition and NGOs by Zenon Zawada is pursuing authoritarian policies. “Some by Zenon Zawada Kyiv Press Bureau of those things, when we investigate Kyiv Press Bureau them – we do investigate very carefully KYIV – U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine the allegations – don’t turn out to be actu- KYIV – U.S. Secretary of John Tefft acknowledged troubling ally what they’re billed as. Some of them State Hillary Clinton met with reports of government pressure and cen- do, and we’ve raised them aggressively Ukrainian President Viktor sorship in Ukraine in his first press con- with the government.” Yanukovych and his foreign ference on Ukrainian politics since taking The ambassador addressed more than policy team during a one-day his post on December 2, 2009. His staff is 50 journalists and policy experts at the visit to Kyiv on July 2 in which they discussed security and in frequent discussions with the adminis- Institute of World Policy in Kyiv. Mr. defense cooperation, including tration of President Viktor Yanukovych, Tefft previously served as U.S. fulfilling the nuclear security he said. Ambassador to Georgia, where he dealt agreements reached recently in Yet Ambassador Tefft demonstrated with the South Ossetian War of 2008.
    [Show full text]
  • Joe Biden and Hunter Biden
    Joe Biden and Hunter Biden Like it or not, former vice-president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden have been very prominent in the news due to Dump’s seeming obsession to find (or maybe create) information which could implicate them in corruption. Dump thinks that it would be great for his 2020 election chances if he could smear the democrats for hosting a corrupt candidate. Joe Biden has been continually presented as the candidate with the best chance of defeating Dump. In recent months however it seems that Biden’s age and his relatively poor performance in debates is casting some doubts on his suitability as a first choice to defeat Dump. It has never been clear to me why the US voters think Joe Biden would be such a good candidate. He is not just seriously showing his age but his political history provides very little reason to see him as a potential winner! Ironically he is likely to be such a weak candidate that Dump should be welcoming him rather than attacking him. Getting rid of Joe Biden early on in the race may help the Dems to find a better candidate who will be far more successful. By all accounts the Dems need a moderate to defeat Dump. Buttegieg is a moderate with youth on his side, who would probably make an excellent president. Elizabeth Warren is currently painted as too left wing. Whether that would really turn out to be as prejudicial as the media tend to suggest, remains to be seen. She is a certainly a great candidate and she can attract the women’s vote.
    [Show full text]
  • Ukraine Prosecutor Says No Evidence of Wrongdoing by Bidens - Bloomberg
    1/2/2020 Ukraine Prosecutor Says No Evidence of Wrongdoing by Bidens - Bloomberg Politics Ukraine Prosecutor Says No Evidence of Wrongdoing by Bidens By Daryna Krasnolutska, Kateryna Choursina, and Stephanie Baker May 16, 2019, 3:14 PM EDT Hunter Biden, Burisma not targets, despite Giuliani’s pleas Long-running investigation said to focus on another Ukrainian Joe and Hunter Biden Photographer: Nick Wass/AP Photo Ukraine’s prosecutor general said in an interview that he had no evidence of wrongdoing by U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden or his son, despite a swirl of allegations by President Donald Trump’s lawyer. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-16/ukraine-prosecutor-says-no-evidence-of-wrongdoing-by-bidens 1/6 1/2/2020 Ukraine Prosecutor Says No Evidence of Wrongdoing by Bidens - Bloomberg The controversy stems from diplomatic actions by Biden while his son, Hunter Biden, sat on the board of Burisma Group, one of the country’s biggest private gas companies. As vice president, Biden pursued an anti-corruption policy in Ukraine in 2016 that included a call for the resignation of the country’s top prosecutor who had previously investigated Burisma. Yuriy Lutsenko, the current prosecutor general, said that neither Hunter Biden nor Burisma were now the focus of an investigation. He added, however, that he was planning to offer details to U.S. Attorney General William Barr about Burisma board payments so American authorities could check whether Hunter Biden paid U.S. taxes on the income. “I do not want Ukraine to again be the subject of U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Nord Stream 2 and Turkstream
    IN RUSSIA’S GAS GRIP: NORD STREAM 2 AND TURKSTREAM KRZYSZTOF KAMIŃSKI newdirection.online @europeanreform @europeanreform NDeuropeanreform [email protected] Founded by Margaret Thatcher in 2009 as the intellectual hub of European Conservativism, New Direction has established academic networks across Europe and research partnerships throughout the world. New Direction is registered in Belgium as a not-for-profit organisation and is partly funded by the European Parliament. REGISTERED OFFICE: Rue du Trône, 4, 1000 Brussels, Belgium. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Naweed Khan. The European Parliament and New Direction assume no responsibility for the opinions expressed in this publication. Sole liability rests with the author. AUTHOR Krzysztof Kamiński Krzysztof Kamiński graduated from the University of Warsaw (Internal Security) and completed the course in The Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC. He gained his professional experience in energy sector. Currently he serves as President of the Board of the Warsaw Institute think tank. His areas of interest are geopolitics, energy security and public affairs. February 2020 New Direction CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 7 2 THE GAS STRATEGY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION 11 3 SOUTHERN FRONT: TURKSTREAM 17 4 NORTHERN FRONT: NORD STREAM 2 27 5 UKRAINIAN FRONT: GAS TRANSIT AND DIVERSIFICATION 35 6 THREATS TO RUSSIAN PLANS 43 7 SUMMARY 53 newdirection.online @europeanreform New Direction Krzysztof Kamiński 1 INTRODUCTION he Russian Federation’s use of hydrocarbons Secondly, large gas export pipelines from Russia to in its foreign policy refers to a theory the state its top gas recipients in Europe are intended to bind Thas added to its doctrinal documents, yet it these countries close to Moscow, mainly Germany shows its practical nature in the first place.
    [Show full text]
  • 2020-08-31-Painter Interview with Exhibits.Pdf
    Page 1 1 1 UNITED STATES SENATE 2 COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 3 COMMITTEE ON FINANCE 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x 5 INTERVIEW OF: : 6 SALLY A. PAINTER : 7 : 8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x 9 Room SD-342 and via Webex 10 Dirksen Senate Office Building 11 Washington, D.C. 12 Monday, August 31, 2020 13 10:08 a.m. 14 15 INTERVIEW OF SALLY A. PAINTER 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 2 2 1 APPEARANCES: 2 For the Witness: 3 PETER KADZIK, ESQ. 4 JACOB TULLY, ESQ. 5 Venable LLP 6 600 Massachusetts Avenue, NW 7 Washington, D.C. 20001 8 9 ALYSSA WOLFINGTON, ESQ 10 Venable LLP 11 1270 Avenue of the Americas 12 Rockefeller Center, 24th Floor 13 New York, NY 10020 14 15 For Senator Johnson: 16 JOSEPH C. FOLIO, III, Chief Counsel, HSGAC 17 SCOTT WITTMANN, Senior Professional Staff Member, HSGAC 18 BRIAN DOWNEY, Senior Investigator, HSGAC 19 LYDIA WESTLAKE, Senior Advisor, HSGAC 20 WILLIAM SACRIPANTI, Professional Staff Member, HSGAC 21 22 For Senator Grassley: 23 JOSHUA FLYNN-BROWN, Deputy Chief Investigative Counsel, 24 Finance Committee 25 QUINTON BRADY, Investigative Counsel, Finance Committee Page 3 3 1 APPEARANCES (Continued): 2 For Senator Peters: 3 ZACHARY SCHRAM, Minority Chief Counsel, HSGAC 4 ROY AWABDEH, Minority Senior Counsel, HSGAC 5 SOUMYALATHA DAYANANDA, Minority Senior Investigative 6 Counsel, HSGAC 7 VALERIE SHEN, Investigative Counsel, HSGAC 8 9 For Senator Wyden: 10 DAVID BERICK, Minority Chief Investigator, Finance 11 Committee 12 DAN GOSHORN, Minority Senior Counsel, Finance Committee
    [Show full text]
  • Table of Contents • International Criminal Court Demolishes Russia's Narrative on Crimean Annexation • Parliament Should
    Table of Contents • International Criminal Court demolishes Russia’s narrative on Crimean annexation • Parliament should reject intrusive NGO measure • Over 490 women, 68 children killed in Donbas • Fake observers praise primaries in occupied territories in Eastern Ukraine • IDPs in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic • School education in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic • Ukraine and EU losing the souls of the inhabitants of Eastern Ukraine • Odesa smoking gun leads directly to Moscow • Corruption convictions statistics – A few answers and a few tools • Oleksii Goncharenko, a young Ukrainian MP from Odessa looks westwards… • Is the situation tense in Odessa? Analysis of a strange opinion survey • "Faked reform" on electronic declarations lets Ukrainian officials steal with impunity • Attempts to rush through Kremlin projects under religious guise are unacceptable - Victor Yelenskyy • Hybrid war ‘à la russe’ and disinformation • War in Eastern Ukraine brings lasting misery for elderly (Op-Ed) • Nadiya Savchenko: Russia frees Ukraine servicewoman • KHPG statement on the events linked with the ‘Myrotvorets’ site • Ukrainian blogger gets long sentence for expressing contentious views • Outrage as anti-militant website publishes list of journalists working in Donbas • 5 years for a red flag? Controversial decommunization law used against Ukrainian veterans • Is the 2nd May 2014 Odessa tragedy a massacre? • People's Council of Bessarabia: Russia's Trojan horse in Odessa Oblast • Two years after Odessa’s tragedy: about
    [Show full text]
  • Begin Rooting out the Cancer of Corruption
    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE - PRODUCED TO HSGAC NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE From:Pyatt, Geoffrey R Sent:Sun, 6 Dec 2015 11:13:00 -0500 To:Bedingfield, Kate J. EOP/OVP;Carpenter, Michael;Kahl, Colin H. EOP/OVP;Hochstein, Amos J;Nuland, Victoria J Subject:Re: Podrobnosti.biz : The Ukrainian scam of the Biden family (information on the website included) I'd adjust the last sentence to change our desired end state. Something like "...begin rooting out the cancer of corruption that has done so much over the years to hold back economic growth and sap the confidence of Ukrainians in those who govern them." I assume all have the DoJ background on Zlochevsky. The short unclas version (in non lawyer language) is that US and UK were cooperating on a case to seize his corrupt assets overseas (which had passed through the US). The case fell apart when individuals in the PGO acted to thwart the UK case. Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone. From: Bedingfield, Kate J. EOP/OVP Sent: Sunday, December 6, 2015 6:04 PM To: Carpenter, Michael; Pyatt, Geoffrey R; Kahl, Colin H. EOP/OVP; Hochstein, Amos J Subject: RE: Podrobnosti.biz : The Ukrainian scam of the Biden family (information on the website included) Proposed TPs for the VP if he gets asked after the stories break in the next few days. Especially interested in your feedback on how to answer the third Q if he gets asked. He is not currently slated to take any questions from reporters on the record on the trip, but he will talk to our traveling press at length off the record and will need to be prepared to answer these kinds of questions.
    [Show full text]
  • Hunter Biden, Burisma, and Corruption: the Impact on U.S
    Hunter Biden, Burisma, and Corruption: The Impact on U.S. Government Policy and Related Concerns U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Majority Staff Report TABLE OF CONTENTS I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY II. INTRODUCTION III. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST IV. THE VICE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE AND STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS WERE AWARE OF BUT IGNORED CONCERNS RELATING TO HUNTER BIDEN’S ROLE ON BURISMA’S BOARD. V. SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY FALSELY CLAIMED HE HAD NO KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HUNTER BIDEN’S ROLE ON BURISMA’S BOARD. VI. STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS VIEWED MYKOLA ZLOCHEVSKY AS A CORRUPT, “ODIOUS OLIGARCH,” BUT VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN WAS ADVISED NOT TO ACCUSE ZLOCHEVSKY OF CORRUPTION. VII. WHILE HUNTER BIDEN SERVED ON BURISMA’S BOARD, BURISMA’S OWNER, ZLOCHEVSKY, ALLEGEDLY PAID A $7 MILLION BRIBE TO UKRAINE’S PROSECUTOR GENERAL’S OFFICE TO CLOSE THE CASE. VIII. HUNTER BIDEN: A SECRET SERVICE PROTECTEE WHILE ON BURISMA’S BOARD. IX. OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS AND A DEMOCRAT LOBBYING FIRM HAD CONSISTENT AND SIGNIFICANT CONTACT WITH FORMER UKRAINIAN OFFICIAL ANDRII TELIZHENKO. X. THE MINORITY FALSELY ACCUSED THE CHAIRMEN OF ENGAGING IN A RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN AND USED OTHER TACTICS TO INTERFERE IN THE INVESTIGATION. XI. HUNTER BIDEN’S AND HIS FAMILY’S FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS WITH UKRAINIAN, RUSSIAN, KAZAKH AND CHINESE NATIONALS RAISE CRIMINAL CONCERNS AND EXTORTION THREATS. XII. CONCLUSION 2 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In late 2013 and into 2014, mass protests erupted in Kyiv, Ukraine, demanding integration into western economies and an end to systemic corruption that had plagued the country. At least 82 people were killed during the protests, which culminated on Feb.
    [Show full text]
  • Ukraine's System of Crony Capitalism
    Research Ukraine’s system Paper of crony capitalism Russia and Eurasia Programme The challenge of July 2021 dismantling ‘systema’ John Lough Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a world-leading policy institute based in London. Our mission is to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous and just world. Contents Summary 2 01 Introduction 4 02 Systema’s four pillars 9 03 Systema’s structure 12 04 Systema in the banking, energy, transport and healthcare sectors 16 05 Agriculture: a counterexample 25 06 The place of the media in systema 28 07 Conclusions 30 About the author 38 Acknowledgments 38 1 Chatham House Summary — Ukraine’s systema – commonly described as oligarkhiya in Ukraine – grew out of a specific form of crony capitalism that took root in the late 1990s. It has proved impressively resilient and adaptive to political and economic disruption since the 2004–05 Orange Revolution. It allocates resources inefficiently and in ways that do not benefit society, and increases economic costs by reducing competition. At the same time, it weakens institutions and perpetuates high levels of inequality and corruption. As such, it is the underlying obstacle to the development of fully functioning democratic institutions and rule of law. — Systema has proved particularly hard to dislodge because it rests on a firm alignment of interests between big business and the political class in favour of rent seeking over wealth creation for the public good. Across the state sector, and at different levels, it has spawned an extensive supporting structure of beneficiaries that service those interests.
    [Show full text]