Posted on 03/20/2008 11:53:01 PM PDT by Colquhoun
Over the years, investors in Russia have grown accustomed to the unexpected. Often, just when things seem to have calmed down, the next bombshell is right around the corner. That's surely the only way to describe the extraordinary news that a manager from TNK-BP, British Petroleum's Russian joint venture, and his brother, who works for the British Council, have been arrested and accused of spying.
The arrests came less than three weeks after Russia's election of a new President, Dmitry Medvedev, which seemed to send a reassuring message of liberalism and stability (BusinessWeek.com, 3/3/08). Remarkably, they also occurred just one day before Russia's Parliament, the Duma, was set to enact tough new rules on foreign investment (BusinessWeek.com, 3/19/08) in strategic Russian industries such as minerals and energy.
On Mar. 19 plainclothes Russian police—presumably operatives of Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB—raided the Moscow offices of both TNK-BP and British Petroleum (BP), seizing documents and hauling in two managers for questioning. Formal charges were issued the next day. Speculation and Confusion
According to a statement released by the FSB, the two men arrested are brothers, Ilya and Alexander Zaslavsky, both Russians with U.S. citizenship. They are accused of obtaining classified information that would be of use to foreign oil and gas companies. Ilya works for BP.
Adding to the intrigue, brother Alexander heads the Moscow Alumni Club for the British Council, the cultural arm of the British government and the subject of a recent diplomatic spat between Russia and Britain. In January, Russia forced the closure of the British Council's offices outside Moscow after police brought in Council staff for questioning on unrelated matters.
What to make of it? Even before news of the arrests broke, Russia's media had been awash...
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
Now would be a good time to dust off your copy of “Epicenter” by Joel Rosenberg or his other book, “Ezekiel Option”.
Bump.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.