September 11 Commission Report - Gnostic Liberation Front

‘took the money and ran.’ This aspect of the overall strategy suggests that rather than
being involved in a program to enhance democracy and capitalism, and to provide for
‘national security,’ the sole purpose, as so keenly summarized by Anne Williamson, was
the financial ‘rape of Russia.’
As in Yukos Oil ownership, the ownership of Gazprom has been purposefully murky.
Khordorkovsky’s role has long been hidden from the public, while most believed that
Chernomyrdin was the key controller. AEB was one of their two banks, with AEB having
no real assets, but serving primarily as a passthrough operation for moving funds
offshore. Khordorkovsky (aided by consultants from Riggs-Valmet) was a significant
architect of the financial structure from the earliest days.
“All along, Mr. Khodorkovsky cultivated relationships with the powerful. As early as 1991, he had an
office in the Russian government building, where he advised officials and charmed them with his quiet
displays of respect. Ivan S. Silayev, Prime Minister of Russia before the Soviet Union's fall, was one of
his first employers. … In a brief but crucial period in 1993, Mr. Khodorkovsky became a deputy to the
energy minister, who was reorganizing Russia's oil industry into groupings that would later become
companies, setting the stage for privatization. Alfred Kokh, the official responsible for running
privatization, recalled that Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin frequently called him about the sale
of Yukos.
"I felt that Khodorkovsky influenced Chernomyrdin strongly," Mr. Kokh said.” [Russian Tycoon
Moves Into Politics and Then Jail, Sabrina Tavernise and Timothy L. O'Brien, The New York Times,
November 10, 2003]
“According to Eric Kraus of Sovlink, another investment house, Khodorkovsky may have already been
indirectly controlling a good-sized stake in Gazprom, the state gas monopoly and the largest company
in Russia.” [Robber Baron, Gideon Lichfield, New Republic On Line, November 17, 2003]
Just as Yukos used Menatep Bank and Valmet SA, Gazprom used AEB for its capital
flight transfers.
“When Gazprom bought it, AEB was a loss-maker. But within a year it was turning a profit and posted
a $31 million profit in 2000. The secret of its success? AEB handles all payments for Gazprom's gas
exports to Central and Eastern Europe. In the last year alone, AEB handled $2.3 billion in payments to
Gazprom. Kent Moors, who has studied Russian capital flight for years as the head of the East
European investment consultancy Asida, which is based in the United States, says that AEB is one of
the ways Gazprom management move their cash out of Russia. "AEB is a small part of a widely
distributed system of offshore companies and foreign partners, with whom the Gazprom managers shift
their cash abroad or park it there," Moors said. Which may explain why the more profit AEB makes
the more stakes Gazprombank sells to obscure holding companies — and to Rakhimkulov.
Gazprombank has now parted with three-quarters of its original 100-percent stake in AEB. Hungary's
official financial watchdog, PSZAF, said that Gazprombank in May 1997 held only half of AEB — 20
percent belonged to the Singapore-registered holding company ACMA Investments and its subsidiary
Citycom. At the same time, the companies Interenergo and Intergazprom Invest, which belongs to the
British Virgin Islands-registered Undall, each held a 10 percent stake. In May 1999 another 10 percent
stake went to IGM Kereskedelmi, which is owned by Cubbaren Ltd., registered on the Isle of Man.
Rakhimkulov has also become an AEB shareholder after Gazprombank sold him an 8.5 percent stake
on Dec. 21, 2000, according to PSZAF.” [Gazprom Assets A Family Affair, Florian Hassel, Moscow
Times, May 21, 2001]
Most of these transfers appear to have constituted illegal transfers, which suggests why
the key architects are facing prosecution and prison terms.
THE SEPTEMBER 11 COMMISSION REPORT Page 230