[ErikHS]

Check out this old article i stumbled on about the former russian oligarch and at that time the richest man in Russia.

It has some VERY interesting names in it, or i should say, its interesting to hear those names mentioned in the same history.

Now in the west we often hear of Putin as being the bad guy and the former oligarchs, Berezovski, Khodorvski, Abramovich, as being legimate business men pursued because of their political and democratic views.

In thruth these people were despised by many russians for having "plundered" the russian wealth under famous alcholic Boris Jeltzin.

These very, very rich oligarchs mostly made their fortunes while they were in their 30's, an incredible accomplishment until you look a bit deeper. Where did these people get their money in Sovjet russia, while they were 20-30 years old? Check out some of the names mentioned in this article, its a rare media appearance of old friends:

NY Times 2003:
How Russian Oil Tycoon Courted Friends in U.S. - New York Times

How Russian Oil Tycoon Courted Friends in U.S.
By TIMOTHY L. O'BRIEN
In early 2001, as George W. Bush's administration moved into the White House, one of Russia's wealthiest men, Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, sought a meeting with the new national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice. According to a former staff member, National Security Council analysts were asked to perform a background check.

Mr. Khodorkovsky did not get the meeting -- part of the tycoon's efforts to secure approval from the American establishment -- because of ''allegations of past business improprieties,'' the former staff member said, also noting that Mr. Khodorkovsky spent heavily in Washington to court the Capitol's inner circle.

But Mr. Khodorkovsky's steady efforts to win access to other influential Americans have paid off. Last July, he met with Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to discuss America's oil policy. Former President George H. W. Bush traveled to Russia in September and spoke at a dinner attended by Mr. Khodorkovsky.

That event prompted Moscow newspapers to speculate that the visit was part of an effort by American companies to secure a merger with Yukos Oil, where Mr. Khodorkovsky was chief executive until he quit on Monday in a swirl of fraud and embezzlement charges. His replacement, a Russian-born American, was confirmed yesterday. [Page A10.]

The Carlyle Group, an investment bank that retained the elder Mr. Bush as an adviser until a few weeks ago, has a close business relationship with Mr. Khodorkovsky. Although Mr. Bush was in Russia as a Carlyle representative, the bank said, his visit had nothing to do with oil deals and he did not meet privately with Mr. Khodorkovsky.

Last summer, too, Mr. Khodorkovsky traveled to a meeting of business leaders in Sun Valley, Idaho, as a guest of a former senator, Bill Bradley, a New Jersey Democrat. Mr. Bradley also advises the Open Russia Foundation, a Russian philanthropy based in Britain that is bankrolled by Mr. Khodorkovsky.

Henry Kissinger, secretary of state in the Nixon administration, is on the foundation's board, a position he said he accepted at the invitation of Lord Rothschild, another board member. Mr. Kissinger said he had only met Mr. Khodorkovsky twice, briefly and in a group.
''It is in no sense an endorsement of Mr. Khodorkovsky's business practices,'' Mr. Kissinger said of his board seat, adding that Mr. Khodorkovsky exercised ''no particular influence'' over the foundation's grants. He declined to comment further on Mr. Khodorkovsky.

In his efforts to carve out contacts and make his name, Mr. Khodorkovsky has also donated substantially to philanthropies in Russia and to American think tanks.

People close to him said he had three motives: improving his own reputation after surviving Russia's scandal-plagued privatizations; refashioning operations and perceptions of Yukos Oil in preparation for a merger with a Western company; and the furtherance of economic and political changes in Russia.

''He wanted to have ties to the United States and he had a goal of exporting oil to the United States,'' said Sarah Carey, a Washington lawyer who sits on Yukos's board and is a close adviser to Mr. Khodorkovsky. ''In order to do that you need to develop constituencies here in Washington.''

Philanthropy, she added, ''is what smart guys do when they get rich.''

Foreigners are not allowed to donate money to American politicians or political parties, and most of Mr. Khodorkovsky's charitable giving has centered in Russia, where Yukos reports philanthropic donations of more than $50 million annually across a broad range of causes.

Through Yukos, however, Mr. Khodorkovsky has given handsome sums to American organizations, including a $1 million donation to the Library of Congress and a $500,000 pledge to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think tank that is home to some of the most often quoted analysts of Russian affairs.

Carnegie notes that Yukos's contributions amount to less than 3 percent of its annual budget. Anders Aslund, a Russia expert at the foundation who has criticized the Russian government in its standoff with Mr. Khodorkovsky, said Yukos's backing is disclosed on the Carnegie Web site. He added that while the donations are significant, they do not affect his assessment of Mr. Khodorkovsky.

The American Enterprise Institute, another Washington think tank that has weighed in on Mr. Khodorkovsky's behalf, declined to address financial dealings with Yukos, citing the institute's policy not to comment on such matters.

Fiona Hill, a Russia analyst at the Brookings Institution, said many think tanks, needing money for Russia studies programs, had courted Mr. Khodorkovsky zealously. She said that Brookings, however, decided not to accept his donations.

''The think tanks were all joking about who wanted to take money to fund the Mikhail Khodorkovsky chair of good corporate governance,'' Ms. Hill said. ''There were still questions about his business dealings and whether he really made the transition from being a robber baron and now wore a white hat.''

Others in Washington said that influence is not so easily purchased and that Mr. Khodorkovsky had traction in the United States because of an authentic commitment to corporate and political change in Russia.

''What distinguishes Khodorkovsky is that he recognized that the rule of law was necessary to legitimize his company,'' said Steve Biegun, who is a national security specialist on the staff of Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the Republican leader, and has met several times with Mr. Khodorkovsky.

''Russian oligarchs have spread a lot of money around Washington over the last decade, but we're not stupid here,'' he added, noting that Mr. Khodorkovsky's qualities helped generate ''a much deeper response than when other Russian businessmen have been hounded.''

Correction: November 6, 2003, Thursday A front-page article yesterday about efforts by Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, embattled founder of the Russian oil company Yukos, to gain access to influential Americans referred incompletely to his approach to the Brookings Institution, the Washington policy research organization. While Brookings said it had debated the possibility of accepting money from Mr. Khodorkovsky, he never formally offered any.

Correction: November 7, 2003, Friday A front-page article on Wednesday about efforts by Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, founder of the Russian oil company Yukos, to gain access to influential Americans misstated the relationship between former Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey and the Open Russia Foundation, a Russian philanthropy based in Britain and financed by Mr. Khodorkovsky. Although Mr. Khodorkovsky asked Mr. Bradley to serve on the foundation's board, Mr. Bradley says he declined and is not advising the foundation.

[Ezra Pound]

I have a feeling Russian Thug is going to love this thread.

[The Special One]

Fascinating read. That guy sounds like an interesting character.

I would like to read more about his days as a possible "robber baron" as the article cites?

TS-do you know a little more about this guys background?

[nhbfan8080]

What people in the west or rather the US don't normally know is that the collapse of the Russian economy and the rise of the oligarchs was a direct result of shock therapy neo-liberal globalization policies. And those policies have allowed the oligarchs to legally plunder Russia's wealth.

The mass privatizations, loans for shares scandal, paper banks totally thrashed Russia's economy. In fact 10 former Soviet republics including Russia who implemented neoliberal structural adjustments went immediately into a very deep recession, and after 10years in 2000 only Poland and Hungary managed to achieve positive growth. Russians can thank the Chicago school star Jeffery Sachs for screwing their country up just as his mentor Milton Friedman screwed up the economies of Latin American conservative dictatorships like Chile decades ago. Lately Sachs has tried to deflect the blame but he was very enthusiastic proponent about shock therapy and helped designed Russia's mess.

The oligarchs hollowed out industries and siphoned out their loot helped by deregulated capital controls and used banks in London/Switzerland/Israel/NY to launder their cash. Ordinary Russians are understandably fed up about the oligarchs and like Putins extra-legal methods dealing with them.
Global Ruling Class: Billionaires And How They ‘Made It’ By James Petras

[RuSSiaNThuG]

this is nothing new to me. though id never seen this article, thanks TS

[ErikHS]

Ok, so i can see this article wasnt very interesting to many people, even if it had all the good ingredients: Russia, USA, corrupt officials, Rotschild, Kissinger, Bush.

What more do you want?!

Maybe it isnt new to those who see why its interesting?

And those who dont know cant put two and two together?

[Ezra Pound]

Originally Posted by ErikHS

Ok, so i can see this article wasnt very interesting to many people, even if it had all the good ingredients: Russia, USA, corrupt officials, Rotschild, Kissinger, Bush.

What more do you want?!

Maybe it isnt new to those who see why its interesting?

And those who dont know cant put two and two together?

No most of them wont be able to see it, youll have to draw the picture for them. And yes I see it.

[PitBullFan]

Originally Posted by ErikHS

Ok, so i can see this article wasnt very interesting to many people, even if it had all the good ingredients: Russia, USA, corrupt officials, Rotschild, Kissinger, Bush.

What more do you want?!

Maybe it isnt new to those who see why its interesting?

And those who dont know cant put two and two together?

No, it is more of the case that most of the "regulars" have already debated and researched this...