Russia to audit sales of state assets in sign of possible crackdown on tyc

[Judi Lynn]

Russia to audit sales of state assets in sign of possible crackdown on tycoons

MARA D. BELLABY, Associated Press Writer Friday, December 26, 2003



(12-26) 11:52 PST MOSCOW (AP) --

Russia plans a sweeping review next year of the much-criticized privatization of state property, a move that analysts said Friday might signal more trouble for the tycoons who made fortunes after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The government's Audit Chamber has given no details about what its analysis would entail, but it comes amid increasing signs that some 1990s post-Soviet deals may be at risk.

"Next year, (we) plan to analyze the results of the privatization of state assets over the past 10 years," the Audit Chamber, Russia's highest auditing body, said in a statement.

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said he would not reverse the sale of state-owned enterprises, but he warned for the first time this week that the government will crack down on those who broke the law during the privatization process. Without mentioning names, he said "five or seven or 10" moguls might have violated the law.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/26/international1403EST0540.DTL

[patricia92243]

1. Bush looked into Putin's eyes and saw his soul - that he is a good man -

so we don't have to worry about Russia.
Mr. Bush said Putin was a good man - so it must be so. :(

[bemildred]

2. Pooty-Poot is feeling secure.

The corporate takeover of Russia has been put on hold.
This just confirms what one could infer from the Yukos
business.

[Widgetsfriend]

3. These developments in Russia are interesting.

It would seem that any probe of the looting of the Russian assets and economy during Yeltsin's reign would implicate other, nonRussian players. Who they might be is only a guess, but Khodorkovsky is associated with the Carlyle Group http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A20638-2003Nov10?language=printer and was visited by the senior Bush just prior to his arrest. They were making plans to transfer some of Yukos to American oil companies http://www.propagandamatrix.com/120903carlylerussia.html. The link is to Propagands Matrix and some might not like that but it is a reprint of an article from the Moscow Times. If Putin has decided to distance himself from the United States, he might be using his knowledge of misdeeds by oligarchs to put the squeeze on the Bushies, who may be deeply tied to the looting. Just a guess.

Also, I heard a great program on This American Life on NPR, about an Island, Nauru, that is a hub used to launder money and is implicated in having helped the oligarchs launder U.S. money out of Russia in the nineties. Here's the blurb: http://www.thislife.org/ Act One. No Island Is An Island. Nauru is a tiny island, population 12,000, a third of the size of Manhattan, far from anywhere, yet at the center of several of the decade's biggest global events. Jack Hitt tells the untold story of this dot in the middle of the Pacific and its involvement in the bankrupting of the Russian economy, global terrorism, North Korean defectors, the end of the world, and the late 80's theatrical flop of a London musical based on the life of Leonardo da Vinci, called Leonardo, A Portrait of Love. (30 minutes) You can find audio of the program by going to the link and under programs for 2003, clicking on "The Middle of Nowhere". It's one of the most interesting things I've heard or read in a very long time. Kind of opened up another world of corruption for me.

I'd love a discussion about what's going on in Russia. Very intriguing stuff.