Putin's Russian Mafia State Buys World Cup By Bribing Corrupt FIFA Officials?
Politics / Russia Dec 03, 2010 - 01:41 AM GMTBy: Nadeem_Walayat
Wikileaks recent U.S. Embassy cable release risks a diplomatic incidence between Russia and the USA as Russia was accused of being a defacto Mafia State that has ceased to be a democracy and is run by the secret services on behalf of an Oligarchy. Much of which comes as nothing new to either the Russian people, business men or foreign investors who know that whilst doing business with Russia can prove highly profitable, however investors and business people have to be nimble footed by being prepared to pull their funds out at short notice.
The wikileaks US cables had already revealed that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev “plays Robin” to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s “Batman”. The embassy documents also called Medvedev “pale and hesitant” in comparison to the “alpha-dog” Putin.
The Russian a Mafia State
US Embassy cable refers to Russia as a virtual mafia state -
Monday, 08 February 2010, 11:00
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 05 MADRID 000154
NOFORN
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/WE (ALEX MCKNIGHT, STACIE ZERDECKI),
EUR/ERA (ALESSANDRO NARDI), INR/TNC (JENNIFER MCELVEEN,
STEPHEN WOROBEC), INL (ELIZABETH VERVILLE, SCOTT HARRIS), L
4. (C//NF) Grinda stated that he considers Belarus, Chechnya and Russia to be virtual "mafia states" and said that Ukraine is going to be one. For each of those countries, he alleged, one cannot differentiate between the activities of the government and OC groups.
//Identifying The Scope of The Threat the Russian Mafia Poses//
5. (C) Grinda suggested that there are two reasons to worry about the Russian mafia. First, it exercises "tremendous control" over certain strategic sectors of the global economy, such as aluminum. He made a passing remark that the USG has a strategic problem in that the Russian mafia is suspected of having a sizable investment in XXXXXXXXXXXX 6. (S//NF) The second reason is the unanswered question regarding the extent to which Russian PM Putin is implicated in the Russian mafia and whether he controls the mafia's actions. Grinda cited a "thesis" by Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian intelligence official who worked on OC issues before he died in late 2006 in London from poisoning under mysterious circumstances, that the Russian intelligence and security services - Grinda cited the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), and military intelligence (GRU) - control OC in Russia. Grinda stated that he believes this thesis is accurate. (COMMENT: See Ref B on a reported meeting between Litvinenko and the Spanish security services shortly before his death.) Grinda said that he believes the FSB is "absorbing" the Russian mafia but they can also "eliminate" them in two ways: by killing OC leaders who do not do what the security services want them to do or by putting them behind bars to eliminate them as a competitor for influence. The crime lords can also be put in jail for their own protection.
7. (S//NF) Grinda said that according to information he has received from intelligence services, witnesses and phone taps, certain political parties in Russia operate "hand in hand" with OC. For example, he argued that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was created by the KGB and its successor, the SVR, and is home to many serious criminals. Grinda further alleged that there are proven ties between the Russian political parties, organized crime and arms trafficking. Without elaborating, he cited the strange case of the "Arctic Sea" ship in mid-2009 as "a clear example" of arms trafficking.
//The Spanish Strategy to Combat the Russian Mafia: Follow the Money//
9. (C) Grinda traced the history of the Russian mafia in Spain to the mid-1990s, when several vory v zakone began to enter Spain. He said that since 2004 Spanish prosecutors have created a formal strategy to "behead" the Russian mafia in Spain. He explained that this has been a top-down strategy done through extensive investigations of criminal actions by these vory v zakone living in Spain. These individuals have no known jobs and unknown sources of income, yet they live in large mansions. Spanish prosecutors have concluded that money-laundering is likely involved and the challenge has been how to prove this. Grinda says that Spain's longtime experience in fighting drug traffickers' use of money laundering has proven valuable in this regard.
10. (C) Grinda says the money-laundering investigations have a two-fold objective: to prevent the targets from profiting from the original crime and to prevent the targets from gaining enough clout to enjoy economic influence, which Grinda suggested sooner or later always reaches political power. This is why Spain's Attorney General has grouped together the prosecutors' office for anti-corruption and organized crime. As part of this strategy to prevent mafiosos from enjoying economic influence, Spain's strategy includes the seizure of businesses, companies, furniture and other assets.
11. (C) Grinda also addressed the challenges of combating OC when it enjoys political, economic, social and - especially - legal protection. Grinda applauded a document provided by the U.S. delegation which addressed the important role the media can play in warning the public of OC's activities and the threat that OC poses. The media can create an environment in which politicians would be reluctant to be friends with and do favors for mafia leaders, whom Grinda argued need to be seen as shady figures to be feared. Regarding legal protection, Grinda stated that a key factor in a government's ability to combat OC depends on the extent to which the country's best attorneys and law firms represent the mafia. In this regard, he asked rhetorically, "Why is Cuatrecases constantly defending Russian mafia members?" (COMMENT: Cuatrecases is one of Spain's leading law firms. Its website, available in English, is www.cuatrecasas.com.)
12. (C) Grinda stated that OC begins to accumulate both economic and political power when it begins to bid for contract tenders on civil works and infrastructure projects.
Is Russia a Mafia state with its security services working on the behalf Oligarchs such as Putin ?
Britain got a taste of the Russian Mafia state in action in October 2006, when the Russian state perpetuated what amounted to a nuclear terrorist dirty bomb attack on London that spread the highly radioactive polonium-210 across central London so as to kill a former KGB agent turned critic of the regime, Alexander Litvinenko, unfortunately for the Russian regime, Litvinenko managed to cling on to life long enough to point the finger at Putin's Kremlin in a statement delivered in hospital two days before he died.
"I would like to thank many people. My doctors, nurses and hospital staff who are doing all they can for me, the British police who are pursuing my case with vigour and professionalism and are watching over me and my family.
I would like to thank the British government for taking me under their care. I am honoured to be a British citizen.
I would like to thank the British public for their messages of support and for the interest they have shown in my plight.
I thank my wife Marina, who has stood by me. My love for her and our son knows no bounds.
But as I lie here I can distinctly hear the beating of wings of the angel of death.
I may be able to give him the slip but I have to say my legs do not run as fast as I would like.
I think, therefore, that this may be the time to say one or two things to the person responsible for my present condition.
You may succeed in silencing me but that silence comes at a price. You have shown yourself to be as barbaric and ruthless as your most hostile critics have claimed.
You have shown yourself to have no respect for life, liberty or any civilised value.
You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy of the trust of civilised men and women.
You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life.
May God forgive you for what you have done, not only to me but to beloved Russia and its people. "
Alexander Litvinenko
21 November 2006
Litvinenko had written two books in the UK criticising the regime in Russian Regime - books, Blowing up Russia: Terror from Within and Lubyanka Criminal Group, where he accused Russian secret services of staging the Russian apartment bombings and other terrorism acts in an effort to bring Vladimir Putin to power. He also accused Putin of ordering the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
Corrupt FIFA Officials Award World Cup to Russian Mafia State?
The BBC Panorama programme investigated allegations against FIFA officials, exposing new evidence of bribery and accuses FIFA executives of taking kickbacks for world cup bid votes. The programme also uncovers the secret agreements that guarantee FIFA a financial bonanza.
(BBC Iplayer - UK Only)
In late October, the UK newspaper The Sunday Times published a video of two FIFA Executive Committee members, Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii, offering the newspaper’s undercover journalists, posing as lobbyists for the USA bid, their votes in exchange for cash.
Put the Russian mafia state with corrupt FIFA officials together and It does not take a genius to conclude as to why corrupt FIFA members have awarded the world cup to a corrupt Russian mafia state. The only question mark is how much did the Russian state bribe FIFA officials with, which will perhaps be revealed in a future wikileaks type revelation.
Prime Minister Putin stayed away from the bid results for the simple reason that he knew Russia had won because they had already allegedly bribed enough of the officials to do so.
Russia is Dieing
Russia has everything going for it in terms of resources and educated worker pool, but unfortunately due to being a perpetual totalitarian mafia state, the country is literally dieing where it population has shrunk by 10% over the past 20 years to 142 million and continues to target a reduction of a further 15 million over the next 20 years to just 127million. Therefore Russia's huge economic potential is being more than lost by the impact if a falling population, all without the consequences of a demographic time bomb that Japan is experiencing as Russia is losing its brightest and best to the west, as they seek freedom and safety over the risks of having to work within a mafia state.
On the bright side for investors is that Russia at $16,000 per capita is starting from a low base, therefore in per capita terms Russia can continue to grow strongly, but in relative terms Russia will continue to shrink in terms of share of global GDP, as countries such as China, India and even Brazil literally roar ahead, already there is speculation that Russia should be dropped from BRIC status.
However all is not lost for Russia, for if it has the will to reduce the level of corruption and eradicate the mafia that controls the government, which means ejecting Czar Putin and his sidekick Medvedev, then Russia can achieve the same level of growth as China for the citizens of China themselves also do not live in a democratic free state, it is just that the criminals in charge of China are marginally less corrupt than those in charge of Russia.
Whilst today's focus is on the Russian mafia state, however there exist to various extent a number of mafia states around the world such as one of the European Unions biggest member states, Italy, where there is a great deal of overlap between where the state ends and the Mafia begins that acts as a noose around the Italian economy by preventing major regions in especially the south of Italy from developing and remaining poor regardless of how many billions the European Union plows into these areas which in significant part end up in the back pockets of Mafia families.
My next in depth analysis / newsletter will evaluate the prospects for the Russian stock market during 2011, to receive this and all analysis and forecasts in your email in box ensure you are subscribed to my ALWAYS FREE Newsletter.
Comments and Source: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article24727.html
By Nadeem Walayat
Copyright © 2005-10 Marketoracle.co.uk (Market Oracle Ltd). All rights reserved.
Nadeem Walayat has over 20 years experience of trading derivatives, portfolio management and analysing the financial markets, including one of few who both anticipated and Beat the 1987 Crash. Nadeem's forward looking analysis specialises on UK inflation, economy, interest rates and the housing market and he is the author of the NEW Inflation Mega-Trend ebook that can be downloaded for Free. Nadeem is the Editor of The Market Oracle, a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. We present in-depth analysis from over 600 experienced analysts on a range of views of the probable direction of the financial markets. Thus enabling our readers to arrive at an informed opinion on future market direction. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk
Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any trading losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors before engaging in any trading activities.
Nadeem Walayat Archive |
© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.
