Outing the Oligarchy - International Forum on Globalization

— INDIVIDUALS OF UNDUE INFLUENCE —
Environment: Since it was privatized, Grupo Mexico’s mines have seen frequent labor conflicts with
workers. In February 2007, 65 miners were killed in an explosion at a Grupo mine—after Grupo had ignored
worker warnings of unsafe conditions for months. Workers at Grupo Mexico’s Cananea mine, one of <strong>the</strong>
largest open-pit copper mines in Mexico, have been on strike since July 2007. In July 2007, 1,300 workers at
<strong>the</strong> company’s Mineros copper mine walked off <strong>the</strong>ir jobs to protest safety standards. 52 In September 2010,
Grupo Mexico announced it would unilaterally abandon its labor agreements under <strong>the</strong> force majeure (“greater
force”) argument in response to strike actions at <strong>the</strong> La Caridad smelter and refinery complex where
members of <strong>the</strong> National Union of Mine and Metals Workers (“Los Mineros”) prevented contract workers
from crossing <strong>the</strong> strike lines. 53 It was a struggle over this same historic mine that helped spur <strong>the</strong> Mexican
Revolution in <strong>the</strong> early 1900s.
In addition to mine safety, <strong>the</strong>re have been frequent controversies over pollution at Larrea’s mines in Mexico
and <strong>the</strong> U.S. In December 2009, Larrea’s U.S. subsidiary, ASARCO, paid $1.8 billion to resolve air and water
pollution allegations at more than 100 sites in <strong>the</strong> U.S. The payment marked an end to <strong>the</strong> largest
environmental-linked bankruptcy in U.S. history. In 2005, ASARCO (originally formed in 1899 as American
Smelting and Refining Co.) filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors after <strong>the</strong> EPA and property owners
sought roughly $3 billion in cleanup and compensation for lands polluted by <strong>the</strong> company’s operations. As of
early 2011, ASARCO was embroiled in a legal battle with <strong>the</strong> U.S. EPA over various lawsuits and
countersuits. Nei<strong>the</strong>r Grupo Mexico nor ASARCO appears on <strong>the</strong> Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
MIKHAIL FRIDMAN, RUSSIA
$15.1 BILLION [AS OF MARCH 2011]
Wealth: Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group (which he shares with fellow billionaires German Khan and Alexei
Kuzmichev) controls Alfa Bank (Russia’s largest private bank), Alfa Capital, TNK-BP (oil), X5 (<strong>the</strong> country’s
biggest retailer) and several construction material firms (cement, timber, glass) as well as food-processing
businesses and a supermarket chain. The two are also major holders of tea and sugar processors. Alfa also
owns a large portion of <strong>the</strong> Turkish mobile operator Turkcell.
Power Networks: Fridman is <strong>the</strong> Russian representative on <strong>the</strong> <strong>International</strong> Advisory Board of <strong>the</strong> Council
on Foreign Relations. He is a member of <strong>the</strong> Public Chamber of Russia, a state institution with 126 members
created in 2005 to analyze draft legislation and monitor <strong>the</strong> activities of <strong>the</strong> Russian Parliament (consisting of
<strong>the</strong> Federation Council and <strong>the</strong> State Duma) and o<strong>the</strong>r government bodies. He has been an active supporter
of Jewish initiatives in Russia and Europe. In 1996, Friedman was one of <strong>the</strong> founders of <strong>the</strong> Russian Jewish
Congress and he now sits on <strong>the</strong> RJC Presidium. He is a major donor to <strong>the</strong> European Jewish Fund.
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