Akhmetov: cards, money, two blindfolds
In the photo of the operation shooting, a young Rinat Akhmetov, along with their coach Akhatem Bragin (Alik Grek), and a group of sportsmen-rankers, are heading to the regional competitions in the game of 'thrown fool'.
After The Washington Post released an article about the 'richest Ukrainian' on December 8, Ukrrudprom suggests that it's better to label this picture in that way.
The article is truly epic and appears to show that the SCM press service's efforts were not in vain. But no…
There are too many stretches and omissions. And, as usual, there's plenty of trivial idiocy.
Akhmetov: Maps
The story about Rinat's skills as a 'thrown fool' once again confirms our belief that the elderly oligarch is teetering on the edge of insanity. The people of Donetsk recall that this game involved Akhmetov as a boxing official dealing with the results of the 'swindle' with the miners, and it took place at the local railway station in Rinat's native Oktyabrsky microdistrict. This indicates small-town organized crime in the mining region in the late 80s.
In a similar situation, a relative from Donetsk acted more imaginatively, claiming that in childhood, during a simultaneous game session, he checkmated either Spassky or Korchnoi. It was impossible to verify this, as both had already fled to the West, as well as whether such a session even took place in Donetsk. It was clear, however, that the child was exceptionally talented and knew something about noble intellectual fun.
Despite his illness, Akhmetov clearly understands that chess is not his game, so he switches from one card game to a slightly more decent one. Additionally, in the text, he has to refute the overzealous Sergei Taruta's claim that he won championships in the 'thrown fool'.
Fantasies about 'Akhmetov – a card genius' don't explain anything, but only confuse the reader. If all his talent lay in playing the 'thrown fool' and he has no connection to crime (as Tarutu claims), then why does he hurry to the football box to 'godfather of Donetsk' Akhat Bragin, and how does he acquire the Shakhtar football club after the latter's death?
Rinat could have clarified by acknowledging the popular version in Donetsk that he was Akhat's nephew through extramarital affairs, but he doesn't provide a hint, leaving the inexperienced reader slightly confused. Did he really become the unofficial owner of the 5-million-strong, most industrialized region of Ukraine for almost 20 years just by playing well at the 'thrown fool'? Yes, the 90s were a terrible time, but not to that extent.
Money
In order to have a better understanding of what was happening in Donetsk in 1995-1996 when Rinat took power, we shouldn't just rely on bits from the WP article. We need to refer to Alexander Yaroshenko's recent statement, the owner of FC Mariupol, to get the whole picture.
“Money came to Shakhtar at that time from Russia. Whoever pays orders the music. All the money that was in Donetsk for this project came from Moscow. This is Kobzon's sawn criminal money.
The man was given money that he had to return. Everything was built for this, so no one fought until a certain time. And today, of course, everyone has become patriots. But Russian money came under SCM and Metinvest. ”
Yaroshenko, due to his age and status, didn't witness the events. He is sharing the consensus of the Donbass elites about what happened in the mid-90s and how Akhmetov actually gained power.
Investigative journalist Sergey Kuzin has been closely studying the topic of Russian money in Rinat's development for the past 20 years. One of his many articles, as well as the documentary film “The Heir”, initiated by Yevgeny Shcherban Jr., help us understand the circumstances of the power transfer in the Donbass in the mid-90s.
At this time, Evgeny Shcherban and Ahat Bragin are the most influential people in the region. Shcherban is responsible for commerce, while Bragin handles its power cover. Both try to influence the political and state elite. Akhmetov, Bragin's right-hand man, dreams of grandiose business schemes for centuries.
In 1994, Bragin and Shcherban borrowed a large sum from the Russians to buy up everything in the Donbass. There are different versions: some say the money was from the “Solntsevo” criminal group, others say it was “old money” from the KGB of Tatarstan. Most likely, criminal authorities were creditors, and at that time, the beggars carried out specific orders of bandits.
The guarantor of the loan was the post-Soviet idol Iosif Kobzon. Since 1995, he was banned from entering the United States due to his involvement in Russian organized crime. The FBI collected a dossier on the singer, who maintained relations with criminal authorities in Russia and engaged in illegal activities like smuggling alcohol, cigarettes, and international arms trade.
Akhmetov: Two blind man's eyes
A year after receiving the loan, Bragin refuses to return the money to the Russian bandits and Kobzon. This leads to a violent upheaval in the Donbass. Bragin is killed at the Shakhtar stadium, and many surrounding figures with a lower rank also die.
The 'bloodbath' (at least on a large scale) ends after Yevgeny Shcherban is executed at Donetsk airport on November 3, 1996. Before that, Shcherban traveled the world for almost six months and then immediately went home after attending a ceremony in Moscow to celebrate Kobzon's 'silver wedding'. It seems that Donetsk commerce received some security guarantees from Shcherban.
Instead of Bragin-Shcherban, Rinat Akhmetov becomes powerful, taking away Shcherban's property and building an industrial empire with the Industrial Union of Donbass. With the executions and explosions in the region practically disappearing, it's likely that Akhmetov gave Russian creditors guarantees to return the money taken by Bragin and Shcherban.
Bragin, Shcherban, and Momot's murders were pinned on a group of mostly already dead killers, with only the former Moscow special forces soldier Vadim Bolotskikh surviving, who has a clear connection to Russian KGB officers.
As a result, the 'thrown fool' master threw a whole group of criminal and business figures of Donbass 'into the furnace' through a proxy and remained in splendid isolation within just a year.
***
The question arises: when and how did Akhmetov pay off Russian creditors? Did this happen during the Orange Revolution, after which he began to actively build transparent holdings like Metinvest or DTEK with the prospect of further entering an IPO?
Or perhaps much later? We witnessed his firm stance in 2014 against the pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk, as well as the financing of 'Vostok' by Alexander Khodakovsky.
Perhaps the 'issue was closed' in spring 2017, when Akhmetov lost control over assets in the 'DPR' and 'LPR' after the start of the economic blockade by Ukraine. However, he was allowed to freely enter the Dneprovsky metallurgical plant 'ISD' in the controlled territory of the country. Many saw this as an open exchange of assets between Akhmetov and the Russian Federation.
All of this is not yet known for sure. But just like in the story of Russian money taken by Bragin and Shcherban in 1994, everything will surely become clear over time.
Oleg KALITA, Nikita AFANASIEV
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