The Russian oligarchs based in London that infiltrate the british establishment on the orders of the Kremlin. The governments of His Majesty, to the left and on the right, who want to benefit good use of their wealth by closing the eyes on a vast money laundering operation for funds of questionable origin. Services of against-espionage among the most famous in the world helpless in the face of the threat that this sub-sector wealthy Russian is for homeland security. All ingredients sulphur of a great spy novel in the John Le Carré. But the fiction joins reality, as evidenced by the recent report of the security committee of the british Parliament on the interference of the Kremlin in the political life of the uk.
To read the document published on 21 July, the Russian oligarchs based in the british capital, and close to president Vladimir Putin managed to put in cuts, settled on the circle of the elites, political, economic, academic, and sports in the uk. The entrisme has taken the form of purchases of real estate, luxury, investments, financial donations to political parties, universities, cultural institutions as well as assistance to the philanthropic sector and to the sport.
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Since the fall of the USSR in the early 1990s, the british government strove to capture the enormous financial flows that control the oligarchs of the East. The phenomenon has gained momentum with the arrival in 2003 of a steel magnate, Roman Abramovitch, who bought the Chelsea football club, one of the jewels of the Premier League. In order to attract the large fortunes " from the cold ", a special visa (golden visa) for billionaires foreigners was established in 2008. The super-rich Russians rushed into the breach in transferring with weapons and luggage in a country of which they were sure that it will remain for a long time the bastion of capitalism and whose political stability was ensured in the long term.
as a Result, the oligarchs, the more powerful have chosen to live in London. This group includes, in addition to Abramovitch (steel), Arkady Rotenberg (industry), Oleg Deripaska (steel, aluminum), Andrew Goncharenko (pipelines), Vladimir Chernukhin (finance) and Evgeny Lebedev (owner of the london newspaper-free Evening Standard) as well as other big names.
Londongrad
in the Face of the issue, the uk authorities have deliberately ignored the dubious origin of the funds the russians invested in the United Kingdom. London has accepted it without missing a beat, the billions used by Abramovitch to buy the Chelsea FC and recruit the best players and managers in the world. The oligarchs can count on a vast network of accomplices, caring, lawyers, and accountants to " dress the bride ", as they say about customers and sulphur. Bound by the economic stakes are personal, many of the members of the House of Lords also served as a matchmaker.
The royal family has also been pampered by the rich of this powerful circle of influence, known as the "Londongrad" by the press. Sir Michael Peat, former director of the cabinet of prince Charles, and prince Michael of Kent, cousin of the queen, put themselves at the service of businessmen Russian. These pillars of the gentry offer the best sesame on the planet to integrate into the social life of in the uk, traditionally closed to the new-rich from elsewhere, devoid of the pedigree, of the ways and the reputation house.
Noyautage
The resounding trial in November 2011 at the High Court in London brought by the businessman and opponent of Russian Boris Berezovsky to his ex-partner Roman Abramovitch about the sale of the oil company Russian Sibneft has lifted the veil on the traditions and customs mafia of many oligarchs. Unsuccessful, Berezovsky has – apparently – committed suicide in his English home in march 2013. Before the High Court, it was a question of cruises on board super yachts in the Caribbean, mansions of the thousand and one nights in France, contracts are large financial returns written on paper napkins, of assassination attempts by gangsters, chechen and billions of dollars hidden in places off shore. Companies-screens, conspiracies political corruption or tax evasion on a large scale...
Despite the hardening of the laws anti-money-laundering, in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, the City of London has never shown looking on the source of capital from the former USSR. On the banks of the river Thames, the money does not smell. The funds come and go and float around freely into the coffers of the first european financial marketplace. According to the study of the House of commons, this noyautage Russian large-scale decision-makers in the british explains the willful blindness of the governments of David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson on the interference of Moscow during the parliamentary elections, and especially the two referendums on scottish independence (2014) and the Brexit (2016).
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the figurehead of the movement in favor of the departure of the european Union, Johnson refused until the end to conduct a thorough investigation of the action of the Russian authorities to lend a helping hand to the current Leave. "There have been widespread allegations of attempted Russian influence votes during a referendum in 2016. The impact of these attempts on the result of the referendum would be difficult, if not impossible to prove. However, the government has been slow to recognize the existence of these threats, " the report concludes, stressing the desire of the Kremlin to see the Uk out of the EU to weaken european construction.
in the Face of the penetration of the Russian services considered " the standard ", London is committed to strengthening the powers of the MI5 (counter-intelligence) now disarmed. But in the eyes of the experts, such a measure is insufficient in view of the magnitude of the danger that constitutes the network of oligarchs. Too little, too late...
