Asquith, Whittingdale, Firtash, Fisher
Asquith-Whittingdale-Firtash-Fisher
1. Firtash Ukrainian Gas
2. Raymond Asquith — Lord Oxford
3. John Whittingdale MP
4. Robert Shetler-Jones
5. Richard John Grenville Spring, Baron Risby
6. Sir Dominic Asquith
7. William Waldorf Astor IV
8. Vladimir Granovsky
9. Anthony Fisher
10. Bell-Pottinger Sans Frontieres
11. KPMG
12. Robert Halfon
13. Pauline Neville-Jones
14. JKX Oil & Gas
15. Misen Energy/Burisma — John Helmer
16. Charles Edward Geoffrey Treherne & Rosella E.A. Gatti
17. Gordievsky Defection
1. Firtash — Ukrainian Gas
Dimitri Firtash developed a relationship with a group of Tory MPs and a couple of Lords. His dealings with Lanny Davis and Paul Manafort are well detailed now. A story from the WSJ from 2014 currently doing the rounds, about the powerful Mr. Firtash which contains information about these UK links which have intrigued one or two since his name entered the news streams recently and for those needing to follow natural gas developments. A Siegelman chart from 2017 shows the men involved, namely Raymond Benedict Bartholomew Michael Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith, OBE, Richard John Grenville Spring, Baron Risby, John Whittingdale and Robert Halfon, both Conservative MPs, plus a rather shady character who seems to act as a glue for all of Firtash’s UK and US activities and attempts, a Mr. Robert Shetler-Jones, who seems to have been popping up all over the place for many years, having begun his business career in Kiev in 1991 as the founder of BPI, a consultancy, offering advisory services to facilitate business between the UK and Ukraine.
One curious aspect is the fact that the now 3rd Earl of Oxford was involved in the defection and escape from the Soviet Union of Oleg Gordievsky, one of the latter Cold War’s most famous defectors. At the time Asquith was Head of Station in Moscow for MI6. Asquith became involved with an Oil & Gas company called JKX oil & Gas as a director on 10th November 1997 and resigned on 28th January 2016. The company founders were John Patrick Kenny, Jeffrey Frederick Russell Hammond and Sir Robert Baynes Horton, 26th May 1995. Dr. Paul Davies became a Director on January 1998.
1. Radio Free Europe (2005), “Ukraine: Criminal Cases Filed Over Gas Schemes”, 5th July 2005.
2. Global Witness (2006), “It’s a Gas: Funny Business in the Turkmen-Ukraine Gas Trade.
www.globalwitness.org/en/reports/its-gas/
3. Financial Times (2006), “Key Man in Ukraine Gas Dispute Faces Questions”, 13th July 2006.
www.ft.com/content/29f06170-12a2-11db-aecf-0000779e2340
4. Guardian (2008), “Oligarch’s Adviser Funds Tory”, 25th October 2008.
www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/oct/25/partyfunding-conservatives
5. Wikileaks Taylor Cable 10th December 2008.
www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08KYIV2414_a.html
6. The Black Sea (2013), “Ukraine Oligarch Links to Offshore Cash Haven Revealed”, 5th November 2013
theblacksea.eu/stories/ukraine-oligarch-links-to-off-shore-cash-haven-revealed/
7. Pravda Ukraine (2014) “Ukrainian Institute London: Time to Give Firtash a Cold Shower in London”, 18th January 2014.
8. Guardian (2014), “UK Seeking to Ensure Russia Sanctions do not Harm City of London”, 3rd March 2014.
www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/03/uk-seeks-russia-harm-city-london-document
9. Guardian (2014), “William Hague’s Statement to MPs on Ukraine: Politics Live Blog”, 4th March 2014.
10. International Business Times (2014), “Who Is Dmytro Firtash? Ukrainian Tycoon Arrested In Vienna”, 13th March 2014.
www.ibtimes.com/who-dmytro-firtash-ukrainian-tycoon-arrested-vienna-1561160
11. Foreign Policy (2014), “Married to the Ukrainian Mob”, 19th March 2014.
foreignpolicy.com/2014/03/19/married-to-the-ukrainian-mob/
12. Spectator (2014), “The University of Cambridge Must Choose its Donors Wisely”, 24th March 2014.
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-university-of-cambridge-must-choose-its-donors-wisely
13. Spectator (2014), “Don’t Call him an Oligarch — Meeting Dmitry Firtash”, 19th April 2014.
www.spectator.co.uk/2014/04/dont-call-him-an-oligarch-meeting-dmitry-firtash/
14. Globe and Mail (2014), “Controversy puts Oligarch’s Charity Contributions under the Microscope”, Published19th April 2014: Updated 12th May 2018.
15. Reuters (2014), “Special Report: Putin’s Allies Channelled Billions to Ukraine Oligarch”, 26th November 2014.
16. Ukrainian Pravda (2016), “Cote d’Azur: How Lyovochkin’s villa near Nice led to the Deal with Ukrtelecom”, 16th January 2016.
www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2016/01/16/7097522/
17. Kyiv Post (2016), “Dmytro Firtash: The Oligarch Who Can’t Come Home”, 9th December 2016.
www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/dmytro-firtash-oligarch-cant-come-home.html
18. Vincent Tchenguiz (Rotch; former biggest shareholder SCL Group Ltd) & Mikhail Fridman (Letterone) are co-located at 35 Park Lane, London, 1st April 2017.
twitter.com/annmarlowe/status/848268454541111297
19. Tablet Mag (2016), “Will Donald Trump’s Data-Analytics Company Allow Russia to Access Research on U.S. Citizens?”, 22nd August 2016.
www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/211152/trump-data-analytics-russian-access
Tchenguiz used the same Guernsey holding company, Wheddon Ltd., to invest both in Cambridge Analytica’s parent company in the U.K. and in another privately held U.K. business whose largest shareholder was the Ukrainian gas middleman Dmitry Firtash. (To buy into a privately held business you normally need the approval of the biggest shareholders, who were Firtash and Raymond Asquith, who also works for Firtash.) Firtash,indicted in 2014 by the United States in a complex bribery case, is under a sort of house arrest in Austria, free on $175 million bail, while the U.S. continues to attempt, unsuccessfully, to extradite him. He has already been stripped of some of his Ukrainian assets by prosecutors there.
20. Wendy Siegelman (2017), “Trump Soho & Drake Hotel Deals”, 24th June 2017.
medium.com/@wsiegelman/trump-soho-drake-hotel-deals-68aca92d7eef
21. Forbes (2017, “ Ukraine’s ‘Most Wanted’ Oligarch”, 16th October 2017.
www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2017/10/16/ukraines-most-wanted-oligarch-dmitry-firtash/
22. Rolling Stone (2018), “Michael Cohen, Lanny Davis and the Russian Mafia”, 28th August 2018.
www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/michael-cohen-lanny-davis-russia-716413/
23. Concorde Capital (2018), “Russia Publishes Sanctions List Against Ukrainian Firms, Individuals”, 1st November 2018.
concorde.ua/rs/daily/item_73730/
24. Cambridge Analytica twitter.com/@ironstowe December 2018
www.opdeepstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/CAMBRIDGE-ANALYTICA.pdf
25. Time (2019), “Exclusive: How a Ukrainian Oligarch Wanted by U.S. Authorities Helped Giuliani Attack Biden
26. OCCRP (2019), “Meet the Florida Duo Helping Giuliani Investigate for Trump in Ukraine”, 22nd July 2019.
www.occrp.org/en/investigations/meet-the-florida-duo-helping-giuliani-dig-dirt-for-trump-in-ukraine
27. NBC News (2019), “DOJ has still not Answered Question about Firtash Extradition, says Senator’s Office”, 15th October 2019.
28. Byline Times (2019), “FIRTASH: How the Trump Impeachment Scandal Leads back to British Brexiters”, 23rd October 2019.
29. Oil Price (2019), “The Ukrainian Gas Giant at the Center of A Global Political Scandal”, 31st October 2019.
Sen. Wicker’s 2018 letter alleges that prior to 2014, Firtash acted as a “direct agent of the Kremlin” during a separate scheme to skim money from natural gas transfers between Russia’s Gazprom and Ukraine.
Court documents and leaked Department of State cables reviewed by NBC News say Firtash was involved in the scheme from at least 2005 to 2010. “By manipulating natural gas prices,” the Wicker letter says, “the Kremlin used RosUkrEnergo as a tool to keep [Kiev] dependent on Moscow.” According to the court documents, RosUkrEnergo was a firm created by Firtash and Gazprom, which is majority owned by the Russian government, to skim money.
“Despite his arrest” in 2014, Wicker wrote, “Firtash continues to engage in corruption in Ukraine, reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit profits.” His letter estimated the gross amount earned since Firtash’s arrest at $1.5 billion.
30. Truth Writer: twitter.com/ObiterDictum101/status/937038896357142529
31. Bristol News: threadreaderapp.com/thread/1226140381752045570.html
32. “Warum sitzt der ukrainische Oligarch Dmytro Firtasch seit 2014 in Wien fest?”
33. Next Generation Finance: offshoreleaks.icij.org/nodes/10067707
2. Raymond Asquith -Lord Oxford
34. landedfamilies.blogspot.com/2016/04/215-asquith-of-mells-manor-house-earls.html
35. www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/the-earl-of-oxford-and-asquith/4343/register-of-interests
36. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Asquith,_3rd_Earl_of_Oxford_and_Asquith
37. wikivisually.com/wiki/Raymond_Asquith,_3rd_Earl_of_Oxford_and_Asquith
38. companycheck.co.uk/company/07180661/THE-UKRAINIAN-CATHOLIC-FOUNDATION/companies-house-data
39. The Third Man: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fja9kwTl_jU
40. The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War”, Ben McIntyre.
41. Kyiv Post (2014), “Billionaire Firtash Arrested on Suspicion of Mob Activity”, 14th March 2014.
Over the years, Firtash’s charities have promoted Ukrainian culture and education. He established a Ukrainian studies program at Cambridge University, and he gave millions to help renovate and expand the campus of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. In 2013 he organized a Ukraine festival in central London and has promoted Ukrainian cultural and folk preservation projects throughout Ukraine. Besides owning a residence in Vienna, he owns luxury property in England where he has employed the likes of Raymond Benedict Asquith, the third Earl of Oxford and Asquith.
42. Independent (2014), “Ukraine: a Rich Seam for Gas Firms Despite Crisis”, 28th March 2014.
43. British Interests in Ukraine David Malone 15th May 2014
www.golemxiv.co.uk/2014/05/british-interests-ukraine/
wikispooks.com/wiki/Document:British_Interests_in_Ukraine
44. Politics Home (2014), “Return of the Asquiths”, 22nd October 2014.
www.politicshome.com/news/uk/home-affairs/waugh-room/71364/return-asquiths
45. Rusletter (2014), “The Ukrainian Oligarch Dmitry Firtash has Supporters Among the Members of the British House of Lords”.
rusletter.com/articles/media_reported_on_close_ties_of_firtash_with_british_elite
46. WSJ (2014), “Ukrainian Billionaire, Wanted by U.S., Builds Ties in Britain”, 2nd December 2014.
www.wsj.com/articles/ukrainian-billionaire-wanted-by-u-s-builds-ties-in-britain-1417517476
47. Hansard — House of Lords 24th March 2015
publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201415/ldhansrd/text/150324–0001.htm#15032472000376
48. Eurozine (2015), “The Firtash Octopus”, 25th September 2015.
www.eurozine.com/the-firtash-octopus/
49. Intelligence Online (2016), “Oligarch Putsch Against ex-MI6 Spymaster”, 17th February 2016.
Raymond Asquith, the former MI6 agent, is at the heart of a battle for control of JKX Oil and Gas, a British oil company active in Ukraine.
Raymond Asquith, the Count of Oxford and Asquith, a big supporter of the rapprochement between Ukraine and Western Europe, was the real target of the putsch that happened at the oil junior JKX Oil & Gas on January 28. Asquith, the former Moscow head of station of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), or MI6, in the 1980s and Kiev head of station in the 1990s was removed from the board of the company which is heavily involved in oil exploration and drilling in Ukraine and also has fields in Russia. The Russian and Ukrainian shareholders of JKX have clashed with one another for almost a year to take control of the company. Vladimir Tatarchuk, the former number two of Alfa Bank, the major Russian bank that is close to the Kremlin, managed to grab control of 70% of the voting rights on January 28, via his private equity firm Proxima Capital, immediately kicking Lord Oxford and several of his allies off the board.
Asquith represented the interests of another oligarch, Dmitry Firtash, at JKX. He is also on the board of Firtash’s holding company, DF Group. Firtash, who is out of favour in Moscow, controls RosUkrEnergo, which holds the monopoly on sales of Central Asian gas to Ukraine. He lost his biggest supporter in Kiev with the departure of President Viktor Yanukovych.
Two other pro-Russian shareholders supported Tatarchuk’s ouster of Asquith, the Russian oligarch Alexander Zukhov, who controls the private equity firm Glengary, and Ukrainian businessman Igor Kolomoisky, an ex-governor from central Ukraine who is anti-Petro Poroshenko and operates the private equity firm Eclairs. The row had been brewing for some time. Back in 2014, Eclairs stated publicly that given Asquith’s past, it was “skeptical as to the pertinence” of his presence at the company.
However Asquith has other irons in the fire in Ukraine. As well as his personal financial vehicle Dessna, he chairs Zander Corp, an environmental remediation firm active in the west and Meteor Asset Management, which is also looking to invest.
© Copyright Intelligence Online. Reproduction and dissemination prohibited (Intranet…) without written permission. — 108146569
Raymond Asquith drove the car which got Oleg Gordievsky out into Finland in 1985. Someone decided to get some revenge, set Lord Oxford and his aristocratic buddies up with JKX Oil & Gas, Firtash portrayed as Ukrainian businessman. Later post 2014 they got him dumped and took over JKX. Does not matter much. All smokescreen as UK gas reserves are a fart in a teacup compared to RU, QAT and Persians. They will have enjoyed kicking the Brit aristos out of Ukraine though. It’s all about maintaining control of UK transit corridors and Oilcos whilst developing the new pipelines elsewhere to get the natural gas cartel monopoly on Europe 2022–2024. Update: http://affiliate-network.co/2019/08/update-russia-gas-cartel/
50. Gordievsky 4th Mole. Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/still-unexplained-cold-war-fbi-cia-180956969/
51. Varsity (2016), “University Accepted over £6 Million from Wanted Ukrainian Oligarch”, 26th February 2016.
52. The New Arab (2016), “High-Profile British Figures Attending ‘Regime-Sponsored’ Conference in Damascus”, 29th October 2016.
53. Anne Marlowe twitter.com/annmarlowe/status/976160196589490177 19th-20th March 2018
54. Deep State 6969 30th September 2019: threadreaderapp.com/thread/1178512687665303553.html
55. Karol Cummins 6th October 2019: threader.app/thread/1180922044323524608
56. Karol Cummins 7th October 2019: hreader.app/thread/1181015691421372417
57. Karol Cummins 28th October 2019: threadreaderapp.com/thread/1188599803782955008.html
58. Kyiv Post (2019), “Destination Vienna: Connecting Trump, Giuliani, Two Fixers and a Ukrainian Oligarch”, 12th October 2019.
59. Anne Marlowe (2020): https://twitter.com/annmarlowe/status/1234211712150245377, 1st March 2020.
3. John Whittingdale
60. Independent (2014), “The Ukrainian connection: John Whittingdale amongst MPs Criticised for Close Ties with ex-Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych’s Favourite Energy Magnate Dmitry Firtash”, 4th March 2014.
61. Guardian (2015), “John Whittingdale, the Horror Fan Putting the Frighteners on the BBC”, 18th May 2015.
www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/18/john-whittingdale-culture-secretary-bbc-rupert-murdoch
62. Guardian (2015), “John Whittingdale Accused of Misleading Parliament over BBC Story in Sunday Times”, 13th September 2015.
www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/13/john-whittingdale-accused-bbc-sunday-times
63. The Trusty Servant №120 — Winchester College November 2015 (inc. Whittingdale and D. Clementi BBC)
view.joomag.com/trusty-servant-nov-2015-no120/0386364001447424078?page=18
64. Goodness and Harmony
goodnessandharmony.wordpress.com/tag/john-whittingdale/
65. Open Democracy (2016), “The Real Whittingdale Scandal: a Cover up by the UK Press”, 10th April 2016.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/ourbeeb/real-whittingdale-scandal-cover-up-by-press/
66. Daily Telegraph (2016), “John Whittingdale had Relationship with ‘Dominatrix’”, 13th April 2016.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/12/minister-john-whittingdale-admits-relationship-with-sex-worker/
67. Daily Record (2016), “Tory Minister John Whittingdale could face Intelligence Probe over his Private Life”, 18th April 2016.
www.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/tory-minister-john-whittingdale-could-7778045
68. Brexit Shambles (2017), “Big Data — Brave New World or Snake Oil Redux?”, 19th March 2017.
www.brexitshambles.com/big-data-brave-new-world-or-snake-oil-redux/
69. Nick Tolhurst 20th October 2019
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1185982511597395974.html
70. John Sweeney (2019), “John Sweeneys.Letter.to OFCOM”, 4th November 2019.
www.johnsweeney.co.uk/?blog=blogs/archive/2019/11/24/john.sweeneys.letter.to.ofcom.aspx
71. Daily Mail (2019), “ License Fee Critic is in Line to Replace Nicky Morgan as Culture Secretary and Oversee the BBC”, 14th December 2019.
72. EU Today (2020), “Newly Appointed UK Culture Minister John Whittingdale Linked with Ukrainian ‘Associate of Russian Organised Crime’ Dmytro Firtash”, 15th February 2020.
eutoday.net/news/politics/2020/john-whittingdale
73. Open Democracy (2020), “Exclusive: Boris Johnson’s Culture Minister Under Fire Over ‘Clearly Inappropriate’ Failure to End Relationship with Media Company”, 4th March 2020.
www.gov.uk/government/people/john-whittingdale
4. Robert Shetler-Jones
Box Tree Cottage, Upton Hellions, Crediton, Devon, EX17 4AE
74. Stirol: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirol
75. www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=217848006&privcapId=113372992
(Bloomberg sites on Shetler-Jones no longer available 12.10.2019)
Ukraine Corporate Governance May 2018. Concorde Capital p. 17: Case Study: Group Dmitry Firtash. In June 2007, Dmitry Firtash, who had concentrated massive economic power in his hands while remaining absolutely unknown to the public, came out of the shadow and announced the formation of a holding company, Group Dmitry Firtash, to consolidate his portfolio of operating businesses and investments. GDF includes three main divisions — energy, chemicals and real estate, with consolidated revenues of USD 4.6 bln in 2006. In July 2007, GDF’s CEO, Robert Shetler-Jones, announced IPO preparations separately for the chemical and real estate divisions of the holding. The sequence marked a significant improvement in ownership disclosure of several traded stocks in our coverage.
76. concorde.ua/files/Corporate_Governance_May_2008(1).pdf
77. GDF Group Page: groupdf.com/en/o-kompanii-angl/korporativnoe-upravlenie-ang/sovet-gruppyi-angl/robert-shetler-jones/
Robert Shetler-Jones began his business career in Kyiv in 1991 as the founder of BPI, a consultancy, offering advisory services to facilitate business between the UK and Ukraine.
In 1993–1994, Mr Shetler-Jones managed the Kyiv office of Jones East 8, the real estate agency practice. In 1994, he became the joint Managing Director of DG Jones & Partners, Kyiv, one of the leading international Quantity Surveying practices.
In 1997–1999, Mr Shetler-Jones worked for Commonwealth Property Investors, an affiliate of AEW International, as Project Coordinator for a US $50 million private equity fund that invested in property developments in the Former Soviet Union.
In 2000, Mr Shetler-Jones became General Director of Dniprovska Prystan, a property development company in Kyiv, and was responsible for managing a US$100 million residential project on behalf of UK and Ukrainian investors. Following that, he became Director of Sabre Management Group, a specialist hotel development company in the Former Soviet Union.
Later, Mr Shetler-Jones became Managing Director of RSJ Erste GmbH, an investment company owning chemical production assets in Ukraine, Germany and Italy, including soda ash and titanium dioxide. RSJ Erste is now part of OSTCHEM, a subsidiary of Group DF.
Mr Shetler-Jones was CEO of Group DF from its inception in 2007 to August 2012 and became a Member of the Group Supervisory Council in September 2012.
Mr Shetler-Jones is also founder and Chairman of Scythian Limited, a consultancy advising businesses on structuring of corporate acquisitions in the Former Soviet Union.
Mr Shetler-Jones graduated from the University of Surrey with a B.Sc. Honours, in Linguistic and International Studies in 1991. He is a fluent Russian speaker.
78. Independent (2008), “Tories Took Donations from Briton Linked to Ukrainian Billionaire”, 25th October 2008.
79. Kyiv Post (2010), “Honorable Mention: Robert Shetler-Jones”, 8th October 2010.
80. Political Scrapbook (2012), “Directors of Tory ‘Rival to 38 Degrees’ Linked to Ukrainian Oligarch”, 11th April 2012.
politicalscrapbook.net/2012/04/right-angle-oligarch-dmitry-firtash/
81. Foreign Policy (2014), “Married to the Ukrainian Mob”, 19th March 2014.
foreignpolicy.com/2014/03/19/married-to-the-ukrainian-mob/
82. Rusletter (2014) “Media Reported on Close Ties of Firtash with British Elite”, 3rd December 2014.
rusletter.com/articles/media_reported_on_close_ties_of_firtash_with_british_elite
Asquith, together with another Briton — Robert Shetler-Jones, a businessman and son of an employee of the British Foreign Office in 2008, met with officials of the US Department of Justice on behalf of Firtash. They, in particular, tried to convince US officials that Firtash has nothing to do with Semyon Mogilevich, Firtash and that he was a partner of “Gazprom”. This happened against the backdrop of an appropriate investigation in the United States.
Later Firtash approached Asquith and Shetler-Jones to help develop business in the UK, said The Wall Street Journal. Firtash in around 2005 had invested in a company established with Asquith for about $ 1 million in return 25% of its shares, according to company documents. And in the next year Shetler-Jones has combined its business with the Ukrainian business Firtash structures. Now he is deputy chairman of the Supervisory Board of Group DF.
In 2007 the three of them founded the British-Ukrainian company, which was to strengthen the relationship between politicians of the two countries. Also, it was intended to represent the Ukrainian business and culture in the UK. Chairman of the Society was a Conservative Party MP, Richard Spring. For his consulting services he received the money from a Cypriot company Spadi Trading. It belongs to the organization Interbeam, which is controlled by Shetler-Jones, said The Wall Street Journal.
The publication also mentions several contacts with British politicians by Firtash. In addition, in the period from 2008 to 2010, the businessman funded the DF Foundation and made a donation to the University of Cambridge ($ 6.7 million) in the amount of 4.3 million pounds. The money was spent on the expansion of teaching in Ukraine. The representative of Cambridge University confirmed the receipt of money and said that the money from the fund was only for educational purposes.
83. Philip Shetler-Jones: sheffield.academia.edu/PhilipShetlerJones/CurriculumVitae
5. Richard John Grenville Spring, Baron Risby
83. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Spring,_Baron_Risby
84. www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Richard_John_Grenville_Spring
85. Advisor to Scythian: www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-risby/139/register-of-interests
6. Sir Dominic Asquith
87. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Asquith
88. www.gov.uk/government/people/dominic-asquith#biography
89. Libya Business News (2013), “Libyan British Business Council”.
www.libya-businessnews.com/tag/libyan-british-business-council/
90. Business Standard (2016), “UK Appoints Dominic Asquith as New Envoy to India”, 9th March 2016.
7. William Waldorf Astor IV
92. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4392036/Cameron-s-brother-law-toxic-leasehold-scandal.html
Since he set up Long Harbour in 2010, Will Astor has become Britain’s second biggest operator in the freehold investment management game. He cut his teeth working for six years for yacht-loving playboy Vincent Tchenguiz, whose Consensus Business Group is thought to be the largest operator, with a portfolio of 300,000 residential freeholds worth around £4 billion.
Apart from the individuals listed above, Firtash enjoys the PR support of Lord Bell, former political consultant to Margaret Thatcher, who helped her win three parliamentary elections. Lord Bell, whom Thatcher rewarded with a peerage, uses the company Bell Pottinger to represent his clients’ interests. The person who provides the link between Firtash and Bell is Anthony Fisher, senior consultant with Bell Pottinger and director of the Firtash Foundation. And the list of clients in Fisher’s Curzon PR portfolio includes members of Ukraine’s government under Viktor Yanukovych.
Anthony Fisher, jointly with the Ukrainian oligarch’s top manager Robert Shetler-Jones, is a co-founder of Scythian Limited. The company was engulfed in scandal a few years ago when British prime minister David Cameron refused to appoint Dame Pauline Neville-Jones as national security adviser after being warned that she had received payments from Scythian Limited in the order of tens of thousands of pounds.
93. Long Harbour: www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/20961107
8. Vladimir Granovsky
Asquith & Granvosky Associates Ltd. 2004–2007
Granovsky & Associates Ltd. from 2007 : beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/05191947/officers
FISHER, Anthony, 42 Sherwood Road, London, NW4 1AD (Jewish Autism Trust). Role: Resigned. Director. Date of Birth: October 1960. Appointed on 11 April 2006. Resigned on 11 September 2007
Bristol News 24th February 2020: twitter.com/RealBristolNews/status/1231721916588843015
9. Anthony Fisher
Anthony Fisher 12 Appointments: beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/e21MInZU4W75OcmDiubvICfywS8/appointments
Scythian Ventures LLP; Scythian Ltd.
beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/03244215/officers
Global Strategy Ltd.
beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/05369932/officers
Right Angle Campaigns Ltd. [Anthony Fisher, Shetler-Jones, Robert Michael Tobias, Paul Thomas Abbot, Robert Halfon].
beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07787667/officers
politicalscrapbook.net/2012/04/right-angle-oligarch-dmitry-firtash/
Firtash Foundation
Eurozine (2015), “The Firtash Octopus: Agents of Influence in the West”,Sergii Leshchenko, 25th September 2015
www.eurozine.com/the-firtash-octopus/#footnote-3
British Ukrainian Society
www.britishukrainiansociety.org/leadership
Holodomor
www.facebook.com/115928911852192/photos/a.258779834233765/454811227963957/?type=3&theater
Gibraltar
Guardian (1999), “Clampdown on Tax Havens”, 7th October 1999.
www.theguardian.com/business/1999/oct/07/16
“For the companies concerned [the changes] could potentially have quite a significant effect, but their impact on Gibraltar and I think the other offshore centres will be virtually negligible,” said Anthony Fisher, who was finance centre director for the government of Gibraltar before joining Bell Pottinger as an international financial services consultant.
Govt. Gibraltar (1999), “Gibraltar: News Release — Gibraltar Refutes Spanish Claims”, 30th March 1999.
Curzon
curzonpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Finance-PR-CURZON-PR-London-Public-Relations-Agency-UK.pdf
curzonpr.com/team/anthony-fisher/
Maryana Greenberg Odessa: curzonpr.com/team/maryana-greenberg/
Farzan Baduel — Barbara Fiala
H Capital Ventures: Efroyim Hecht, Gilad Mintzer, Anthony Fisher.
Parasol Foundation Trust
parasolfoundation.org/our_team/anthony-fisher/
[Name removed from site]
10. Bell-Pottinger 1985–2017
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Pottinger
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Bell,_Baron_Bell
www.theguardian.com/media/2019/aug/26/lord-bell-obituary
Timeline: time.graphics/line/118066
PR Week (1999), “Bell Pottinger Buys Wearne to Boost Crisis and Food PR”, 8th October 1999.
www.prweek.com/article/101753/bell-pottinger-buys-wearne-boost-crisis-food-pr
Independent (2011), “Leading Article: Evidence of a Lobbying Industry out of Control”, 5th December 2011.
Independent (2011), “The Sting: The Fake ‘Azimov Group’ Meets Bell Pottinger”, 6th December 2011.
PR Week (2002), “KPMG Hands UK PR Business over to Bell Pottinger”, 1st February 2002.
www.prweek.com/article/117931/kpmg-hands-uk-pr-business-bell-pottinger
Independent (2011), “Liam Fox, Adam Werritty, and the Curious Case of Our Man in Tel Aviv”, 27th November 2011.
Bureau of Investigative Journalism (2011), “PR Uncovered: Bell Pottinger’s Links to Government”, 1st December 2011.
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2011-12-01/pr-uncovered-bell-pottingers-links-to-government
Ayes to the Left (2012), “Tory MP Robert Halfon — Granovski Associates & Bell Pottinger”, 6th May 2012.
cameron-cloggysmoralcompass.blogspot.com/2012/05/robert-halfon-granovski-associates-bell.html
Guardian (2016), “Inside Ricu, the Shadowy Propaganda Unit Inspired by the Cold War”, 2nd May 2016
Bureau of Investigative Journalism (2016), “Fake News and False Flags: How the Pentagon Paid a British PR Firm $500 Million for top Secret Iraq Propaganda”, 2nd October 2016.
labs.thebureauinvestigates.com/fake-news-and-false-flags/
Guardian (2017), “Deal that Undid Bell Pottinger: Inside Story of the South Africa Scandal”, 5th September 2017.
www.theguardian.com/media/2017/sep/05/bell-pottingersouth-africa-pr-firm
Craig Murray (2017), “The Appalling Pottingers”, 6th September 2017.
www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2017/09/the-appalling-pottingers/
New York Times (2017), “Bell Pottinger, British P.R. Firm for Questionable Clients, Collapses”, 12th September 2017.
www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/business/bell-pottinger-administration.html
PR Week (2017), “Bell Lehrle’s S Sans Frontieres Hires Suspended Oakbay Account Team Member Philip Peck”, 12th October 2017.
New York Times (2018), “How Bell Pottinger, P.R. Firm for Despots and Rogues, Met Its End in South Africa”, 4th February 2018.
www.nytimes.com/2018/02/04/business/bell-pottinger-guptas-zuma-south-africa.html
New Yorker (2018), “The Reputation-Laundering Firm That Ruined Its Own Reputation”, 18th June 2018.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/06/25/the-reputation-laundering-firm-that-ruined-its-own-reputation
Miscellaneous Post Bell Pottinger Info.
David Bass. Copperfield Advisory (New York): www.linkedin.com/company/copperfieldadvisory/
James Henderson. J&H Communications: www.prweek.com/article/1456128/former-bell-pottinger-boss-james-henderson-launches-new-venture
18 staffers to Pagefield: www.pagefield.co.uk
Jonathan J. Lehrle: Sans Frontieres: www.sansfrontieresassociates.com/who-we-are/
Chime Communications (formed 1989, owners Bell Pottinger to July 2012): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chime_Communications_Limited
WPP Buyout July 2015: www.ft.com/content/072e2a68-374c-11e5-bdbb-35e55cbae175
Sebastian Coe, Sir Martin Sorrell, Mervyn Davies.
Mark Turnbull (ex Cambridge Analytica, 18 years at Bell Pottinger): www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-43506270
www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2019/03/28/dying-days-cambridge-analytica-like-chinese-water-torture/
CNN (2019), “London Trip Photos Show Giuliani with Indicted Associate at Yankees’ game, Ukrainian Charity Event”, 26th October 2019.
edition.cnn.com/2019/10/26/app-politics-section/kfile-giuliani-london-trip/index.html
Byline Times (2019), “From Mafiya to Mayfair: Firtash, Giuliani and the London Connection”, 4th December 2019.
bylinetimes.com/2019/12/04/from-mafiya-to-mayfair-firtash-giuliani-and-the-london-connection/
11. KPMG
Ian Fraser (2013), “Britain is Fast Turning into a Banana Monarchy, Wilfully Blind to Corruption”, 17th August 2013.
www.ianfraser.org/britain-is-fast-turning-into-a-banana-republic-wilfully-blind-to-corruption/
Independent (1995) “Conservatives at the heart of Freemasonry”, 31st October 1995.
www.independent.co.uk/news/conservatives-at-the-heart-of-freemasonry-1580256.html
Sir Gerrard Peat, a Partner in KPMG Peat Marwick, the Leading Accountancy Firm, is a top Mason. He is also a past Auditor to the Queen’s Privy Purse and Treasurer of the Association of Conservative Clubs.
12. Robert Halfon
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Halfon
Financial Times (2014), “Austria Arrests Ukraine Oligarch Dmitry Firtash at US Request”, 13th March 2014.
www.ft.com/content/77af8ed2-aab0-11e3-9fd6-00144feab7de
Craig Murray (2011), “The Secret Foreign Policy”, 14th December 2011.
www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2011/12/the-secret-foreign-policy/
Ayes to the Left (2012), “Tory MP Robert Halfon — Granovski Associates & Bell Pottinger”,6th May 2012.
cameron-cloggysmoralcompass.blogspot.com/2012/05/robert-halfon-granovski-associates-bell.html
13. Pauline Neville-Jones
Guardian (2008), Oligarch’s Adviser Funds Tory”, 25th October 2008.
www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/oct/25/partyfunding-conservatives
Daily Mail (2010), “MI5 ‘Vetoed Security Minister over Links to Ukrainian Oligarchs’”, 15th August 2010
powerbase.info/index.php/Pauline_Neville-Jones
Rusletter (2019), “Vitaly Orlov is till Unable to Unfreeze Assets”, 27th August2019.
rusletter.com/articles/vitaly_orlov_is_still_unable_to_unfreeze_assets
14. JKX Oil & Gas [www.jkx.co.uk]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JKX_Oil_%26_Gas (~2008}
JKX Oil & Gas plc is a British-based hydrocarbon exploration and production company, listed on the London Stock Exchange. JKX operates primarily in Russia and Ukraine, but has a presence in six other countries in Europe and North America. In June 2011, VTB Capital plc, a subsidiary of Russian state bank VTB, increased its share in JKX Oil & Gas to 6.4%.[4] The deal makes VTB bank the fourth largest shareholder in the company. Ihor Kolomoyskyi, the co-owner of Privat Group, remains the largest shareholder in JKX with a 27.06% stake.
The Company was founded by John Patrick Kenny and Paul Davies as JP Kenny Exploration & Production Ltd in 1995 to search for oil and gas in the former Soviet Union.[5]
The company concentrates principally on projects in Ukraine and Russia. In the former, JKX is the dominant private enterprise in exploration and production, accounting for over three-quarters of all oil and almost half of all gas produced by non-state-owned companies.[3] The firm has licence to operate in several mainly-onshore oil fields in the Poltava region.[6] The company moved into Russia in 2007 with the $50 million purchase of Yuzhgazenergie, which holds the licence to exploit a gas field in the Koshekhablsky District in the south of the country.[7]
JKX also has investments in six other countries around the world: in Georgia it has a small stake in an exploration firm operated by Occidental Petroleum focusing on the Black Sea;[8] while it holds minority interests in several onshore exploration licences in Turkey and eastern Bulgaria.[9][10]
JKX also holds an interest in an oil field in Shelby County, Texas in the United States,[11] a 50% stake in two exploration licences in northern Hungary[12] and bought into three licences in Slovakia in April 2008.[13]
As of the end of 2007, JKX claimed reserves of 4.6 million barrels (730,000 m3) of crude oil and 71.6 billion cubic feet (2.03 km3) of natural gas.[14]
65. Paul Davies
www.twst.com/bio/dr-paul-davies/
66. Peter Lovat Fraser, Baron Fraser of Carmyllie
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Fraser,_Baron_Fraser_of_Carmyllie
wikispooks.com/wiki/Peter_Fraser
powerbase.info/index.php/Peter_Fraser
91. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RosUkrEnergo
92. www.jkx.co.uk/our-business: www.jkx.co.uk/investor-centre/our-board-of-directors
93. companycheck.co.uk/company/03050645/JKX-OIL — GAS-PLC/print
94. Independent (1997), “Pounds 55m Ramco Bid for JKX Frees Horton from Second Fiasco”, 24th July 1997.
95. Independent (1997), “Ukrainian Raid may Have Sabotaged Pounds 54m Oil Deal”, 13th September 1997.
96. Telegraph (2003), “The Questor Column: caution with Georgia in Mind”, 24th May 2003
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/questor/2852916/The-Questor-Column.html
JKX Oil and Gas is a company that has been through the wars. Once a star performer, its shares have been in the doldrums for years now. JKX was founded in 1995, as a company looking for oil and gas in the former Soviet Union.
Since then, it has been able to produce plenty of gas, but has suffered from customers not paying, and from attacks on its offices by masked gunmen seeking to possess its business.
Finally, in September 2001, Tony Blair stepped in and saved the company from being nationalised by the Ukraine. Since then, JKX’s performance has much improved and earlier this week it completed the buy-out of its joint venture with the Ukraine, leaving it enjoying full control of its destiny.
JKX is now the largest non-state producer of gas in the Ukraine, where 97pc of production is controlled by the government. It may only have a 1.8pc share of the total, but it claims industrial customers welcome its efficiency and the predictability that it can provide over the state.
JKX currently produces around 7,000 barrels of oil and gas a day, but hopes to step that up now its political battles have been won. Payment problems (it was only paid around 23pc of its entitlements back in 1996) have mostly been resolved, although the Ukraine remains behind Russia in creating a stable corporate environment.
The company has a 4pc share in what could be a mammoth oil field off the coast of Georgia, which is now being explored. JKX has a dividend yield of 2.4pc, on this week’s price of 20.5p, and trades off 4.5 times forward earnings. Cheap but with Georgia on its mind, it’s a hold.
97. Action Ukraine Report: 2: “How the British Connection Helped the Rise of Dmytro Firtash, Ukrainian Who Owns 45 Percent of Rosukrenergo”, Stefan Wagstyl and Tom Warner, Financial Times, London, UK, Saturday, April 29th 2006.
www.usubc.org/AUR/aur692.php#a2
98. ADVFN (2006), JKX Oil & Gas Share Discussion Thread, 30th April 2006
uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/jkx-oil-gas-JKX/share-chat?page=222
99. Times (2006), “Ukrainian Gas Company Rises as Little Known Fund Lifts its Stake”, 20th June 2006.
JKX OIL & GAS was the best performer in the FTSE 250 as the largest shareholder in the Ukrainian gas producer raised its stake to 25.9 per cent. Little is known about Glengary Overseas, other than it represents well-connected Russian interests in the energy sector. But its intentions became the focus of speculation in the mid-cap oil and gas sector after it increased its holding in JKX from 16.1 per cent to 25.9 per cent after acquiring 14.75 million shares from Benam off market at an undisclosed price. Given that Benam, previously JKX’s second-largest shareholder, bought most of its stock at 100p, its decision to take profits did not surprise. But as KBC Peel Hunt pointed out, “it is safe to assume these parties know what they are doing”. Benam is connected to RosUkrEnergo, an intermediary in a recent supply deal between Ukraine, and Russia and Turkmenistan. With JKX expected to enjoy further gains in domestic gas pricing, and Glengary’s stakebuilding fuelling bid hopes, JKX rose 15p to 373½p, with the FTSE 250 up 20.3 points to 9,114.1.
100. RFEL (2006), “Turkmenistan: The Achilles’ Heel Of European Energy Security”, 30th June 2006.
101. Financial Times (2013), “Ukrainian Tycoon Seeks Ouster of JKX Chief Paul Davies
www.ft.com/content/37bf4a4a-c499-11e2-9ac0-00144feab7de
102. Independent (2013), “Raiders From the East: The Oligarchs Who Won Their Case but Took a Battering”, 11th September 2013.
103. Strategic Culture Foundation (2015), “Kolomoisky Is About to Devour Ukraine”, 21st February 2015.
www.strategic-culture.org/news/2015/02/21/kolomoisky-is-about-to-devour-ukraine/
104. Evening Standard (2016), “JKX Oil is ‘Scaremongering’, Major Shareholder Proxima Claims”, 11th January 2016.
www.standard.co.uk/business/jkx-oil-is-scaremongering-major-shareholder-proxima-claims-a3153386.html
105. Petropavlovsk PLC. Board and Management Update. RNS Number : 1028F, 16th February, 2018.
markets.ft.com/data/announce/full?dockey=1323–13535532–0ON56IVLACPL29F3MDOE03LLC5
15. Misen Energy, JKX, Burisma — John Helmer
106. John Helmer (2015), “The Hunt for Burisma — When the Pack of Hounds is Missing It’s Master, the Fox Escapes”, 19th February 2015.
johnhelmer.net/the-hunt-for-burisma-when-the-pack-of-hounds-is-missing-its-master-the-fox-escapes/
107. John Helmer (2015), “The Hunt for Burisma, Part II — What Role for Igor Kolomoisky, What London Missed, What Washington Doesn’t Want to See
108. John Helmer (2016), “US Investors in Raid Against Dmitry Firtash — Steven Lynch Attempts Takeover of Ukrainian Gas Producer, Misen Energy”, 13th January 2016
109. John Helmer (2016), “In the Takeover of Ukraine Gas Producer JKX, Igor Kolomoisky has a New Friend in Moscow”, 3rd February 2016.
16. Charles Edward Geoffrey Treherne & Rosella E.A. Gatti
www.thepeerage.com/p67337.htm#i673365
groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/peerage-news/wCkm9rBk2Ao
Centragas Holding: oeinfo.dieingenieure.com/misc/fb.php?output=html&search=250985x
Howard George Wilson (02.11.1952)
David Anthony Brown (14.05.1953)
www.firmenabc.at/person/wilson-howard-george_jhtujj
17. Gordievsky Defection
110. Sir Christopher Curwen -Obituary — 23rd December 2013.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10536155/Sir-Christopher-Curwen-obituary.html
111. Nigel West “The Friends”, 1988. p. 161–164.
www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96B01172R000100060001-5.pdf
112. Politics Home (2014), “The Return of the Asquiths”, 22nd October 2014.
www.politicshome.com/news/uk/home-affairs/waugh-room/71364/return-asquiths
113. Financial Times (2014), “Archives 1985 & 1986: Gordievsky Defection Chilled Anglo-Soviet Ties”, 30th December 2014.
www.ft.com/content/74c6d63c-847e-11e4-bae9-00144feabdc0
114. Times (2018), “Escape from Moscow: how MI6 rescued its KGB spy, Oleg Gordievsky
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/escape-from-moscow-how-mi6-rescued-its-kgb-spy-oleg-gordievsky-zh888dlpv
115. Guardian (2018), “The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintrye Review — The Astonishing Story of a Cold War Superspy”, 19th September 2018.
www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/19/the-spy-and-the-traitor-by-ben-macintyre-review
Pravda “Ukrainian Institute London: Time to Give Firtash a Cold Shower in London”, 18th January 2014.
Bohdan Nahaylo to Ukrainian Institute, London 18 January 2014
Status Update By Natalia Petrenko
TIME TO GIVE FIRTASH A COLD SHOWER IN LONDON
Serhiy Leshchenko for “Ukrayinska Pravda” www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/three-ukrainian-reformers-pay-an-unexpected-price-for-their-success
blogs.pravda.com.ua/authors/leschenko/52d9a88216d39/
January 18, 2014 Translated by Natalia Petrenko
In his latest interview, the former US Ambassador to Ukraine, John Herbst, perhaps undiplomatically but perfectly justly said the following about Ukrainian politicians and oligarchs: “the best place to enjoy the riches that you stole from your fellow citizens is not Ukraine but Paris, London, New York.”
Ukrainian oligarchs have long ago made their personal European choice while leaving for their compatriots the backyard of the post-Soviet territory.
At the end of last year, concerned Ukranians in London picketed the office and apartment (the most expensive apartment in the world) belonging to Rinat Akhmetov — the unofficial majority leader of the Party of the Regions. The distress these actions caused him was evidenced by his nervous appearance before picketers at his Donetsk palace, in order to refute information about his arrival in London.
Meanwhile, another person has escaped the attention of the activists in London, a person who not only controls ten or so Deputies (members of the Ukrainian parliament) but also adds significant support to President Yanukovych’s regime.
This person is Dmitry Firtash, who became the sole supervisor of the broadcasting service “Inter”, which brainwashes the minds of its viewers in the interests of Yanukovych every evening.
On New Year’s Eve, the informational policy of the television channel “Inter” underwent radical changes. The news block was transferred to Firtash’s control and became headed by Anton Nikitin, the cousin of Hanna Bezliudna, who is director of communications in Firtash’s “Group DF.”
Besides the surrender of this major news source to Yanukovych, Firtash remains in solidarity with the police beatings at Euromaidan on November 30, 2013, because not one of the Deputies he controls voted for resignation of the government. Moreover, they voted (or at least did not recall their votes) to enact the recent laws that establish dictatorship in Ukraine.
Some of these Deputies include the head of Firtash’s security Ivan Myrny; Firtash’s junior partner in “RosUkrEnergo” Ivan Fursin; the former manager of Firtash’s factories “Crimean Soda” and “Crimean Titan” Oleksandr Nechayev; the former supervisor of Firtash’s “Chernivtsi Gas” Gennady Fedoriak. There are also other Deputies in the entourage of Firtash and his partners Sergiy Liovochkyn (Yulia Liovochkyn, Victor Zherebniuk) and Yuriy Boyko (Yuliy Yoffe, Yaroslav Moskalenko).
In principle, Firtash has a right to his opinions and can advocate even for unification between Ukraine and Russia. In Russia live his former sponsor — one of the most wanted criminals on the FBI list, Semion Mogilevich — as well as a current partner, now Putin’s judo instructor, Arkadiy Rotenberg.
But having become an apologist for the anti-European choice, Firtash himself doesn’t fancy the Russian midlands. Instead of trips to Pyatigorsk or Sochi, he spends his time in London, Vienna, Courchevel, and the French Riviera.
And the current surrender of his television holdings in favour of the Yanukovych regime coincides with yet another attempt by the oligarch to legitimize himself in the West.
To clean up his reputation in Great Britain, Firtash founded an organization called the “DF Foundation”, which was recently renamed as the “Firtash Foundation”. This organization is registered in Leeds, and its supervisor is the oligarch’s wife, Lada Firtash. (See document 1)
The foundation’s first large event was the “Days of Ukraine in the UK”, which in “Inter’s” version looked like the “Days of Firtash in the UK”, as the hero and his wife did not leave the screen. They also bought advertisement space in the local papers and arranged for complementary articles and photos of Lada Firtash.
The attraction to self P.R. and savage Ukrainian traditions together played a mean joke — one of the photos reveals her Ukrainian bodyguard pushing away British photographers and locals from Mrs Firtash in London.
But now for the most interesting part. Thus attempting to gain a favourable reputation in the West, Firtash formed connections with members of the local elites. To them, Firtash is a respectable businessman from Ukraine, and they haven’t an inkling of the methods used by this gentleman’s television channel in Ukraine’s propaganda war.
For example, a sort of guide for Firtash to the British establishment is Lord Risby. He is a former businessman-financier from the Conservative party, who became a member of the House of Lords a few years ago.
Lord Risby (real name Richard Spring) was part of the organizational committee of the “Days of Ukraine” in London. He is also the director of the “British Ukrainian Society”, behind whose solid-sounding name one can guess Firtash’s set (more on this below).
Among the members of the organizational committee of the “Days of Ukraine” in London, there are two more British MPs who are concomitant directors of the “British Ukrainian Society” — these are Lord Oxford (real name Raymond Benedict Asquith) as well as an MP in the House of Commons, John Whittingdale.
Another Englishman in Firtash’s milieu is Robert Shetler-Jones, who is part of the supervising committee of Group DF and is also among the directors of the “British Ukrainian Society”. Moreover, it is he who signs the various reports required of the organization by the British government. (See document 2)
Lord Oxford (Raymond Asquith) doesn’t hide his affiliation with Firtash. He is a member of the supervisory council at Group DF. The aforementioned John Whittingdale, besides directing the “British Ukrainian Society”, heads the so-called “friendship group” between the British and Ukrainian parliaments, in which Lord Risby holds a Secretary position.
It is noteworthy that Whittingdale’s two activities interconnect. In the British parliament, every MP must declare his/her spending of both tax and donor money. In a recent declaration, MP Whittingdale reports spending 4 thousand dollars granted by the British Ukrainian Society for a trip to a conference in Yalta, although not in the capacity of director of the British Ukrainian Society but in his capacity as head of the parliamentary “friendship group” between the two countries.
Interestingly, in this declaration, Mr Whittingdale gives the London address of the British Ukranian Society — 1st Floor, 25 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7RZ. According to registration documents, it is this address that, until recently, was the location of the Firtash Foundation.
When Whittingdale indicated this address as that of the British Ukranian Society, he gave himself away, because this organization otherwise signs under a different address in order to distance itself from associations with Firtash — Clearwater House, 4–7 Manchester Street, London.
Next. Recently in Washington DC there took place the inauguration of the “Memorial to the Victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932–33”. Firtash himself, who donated 2.5 million dollars for the memorial, was absent from the ceremony, as he is not allowed into the USA due to his ties with the aforementioned criminal Mogilevich. According to the local press, the oligarch was represented at the inauguration by Anthony Fisher, one of the ex-directors of the Firtash Foundation and, again, one of the directors of… the British Ukrainian Society.
Thus, at least five of the twelve directors of the British Ukrainian Society (Lord Risby, Lord Oxford, MP John Whittingdale, Robert Shetler-Jones, and Anthony Fisher) are connected to Firtash now. In addition, the political analyst Volodymyr Granovsky, who used to work for Firtash, is also now a member of the council of directors of the British Ukrainian Society.
What can the citizens of London do to let Firtash feel the risks to his reputation due to the destruction of democracy on the broadcasting service “Inter” and in Ukraine overall?
Firstly, to inform the named citizens of Britain (Lord Risby, Lord Oxford, MP John Whittingdale, Robert Shetler-Jones, and Anthony Fisher) that their partner associates with Yanukovych in the introduction of dictatorship. The Minister of Foreign Affairs William Hague has already voiced his concern over the laws voted for by Firtash’s security manager, Mr Myrny.
Secondly, to peacefully picket the office at 1st Floor, 25 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7RZ and inform its neighbours about Firtash.
Thirdly, to inform the members of the friendship group between the parliaments of Britain and Ukraine about the destruction of democracy in Ukraine by Firtash, among others. Here are its members:
www.publications.parliament.uk/…/register/ukraine.htm
Fourthly, to request Scotland Yard to investigate further Firtash’s involvement with organized crime and highlight his affiliation with Semion Mogilevich and “non grata” status in the USA.
Fifthly, to determine which banks Firtash uses.
Besides his British footprint, Firtash has an Austrian one as well. His company Centragas Holding GmbH is registered in Vienna at the address Schwindgasse 5/1/4, 1040 Wien. The neighbouring offices must know next to whom they exist.
Firtash is serviced by Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG. Banks are very sensitive to negative information in general. Therefore, it will not be a pleasant surprise for them to find out about the current anti-European activities of their client and his dubious past.
Perhaps this will make Firtash realize that the interests of his country must sometimes override the interests of his pocket.
Eurozine (2015), “The Firtash Octopus”, 25th September 2015.
www.eurozine.com/the-firtash-octopus/
The Austrian-based Ukrainian Modernization Agency has a “sister” organization in the United Kingdom, in the upmarket London district of Knightsbridge. Another base of Firtash’s interest is located near the Mandarin Oriental hotel and One Hyde Park, the fashionable new residential complex, which is home to another Ukrainian oligarch, Rinat Akhmetov.
The agent of Firtash’s influence in the United Kingdom is the British Ukrainian Society (BUS), an organization headquartered at 25 Knightsbridge.2 Its publicly declared mission is “strengthening the ties between Ukraine and the United Kingdom at all levels” by “providing a platform for closer contact and cooperation between the two countries in the fields of politics, business, culture, education and science”, according to the organization’s website.
In fact, BUS was founded in February 2007 as a private organization with two directors: Robert Shetler-Jones and Richard Spring. The latter, since being awarded a life peerage, has been known as Lord Risby. Since March 2015 he has also been mentioned as a founder of the Ukrainian Modernization Agency.
Robert Shetler-Jones is one of the people closest to Firtash. He was the CEO of Firtash’s parent company Group DF from its inception until August 2012. Currently he is a member of the Group DF Supervisory Council, chaired by Firtash.
BUS resides in the same office building in Knightsbridge as Scythian Limited, a company run by by Shetler-Jones (he is listed as its director in the BUS founding documents).
Until he received his peerage, Lord Risby was a member of the House of Commons. As an MP, Richard Spring, as he then was, was obliged to declare payments he received in compensation for his work in his capacity as BUS director. In 2007 and 2008 the future Lord declared receiving between 35,000 and 40,000 British pounds annually for this work.
Apart from Lord Risby, Firtash’s circle of UK lobbyists includes the MP John Whittingdale. He is the former chair of the parliamentary group on cooperation with the Ukrainian parliament and a frequent target of criticism from the LGBT community for his homophobic views. Following the 2015 election, Whittingdale was appointed secretary of state for culture, media and sport.
Whittingdale has attended numerous events abroad, with expenses paid by BUS. In particular, he took part in Ukraine Tomorrow, the Vienna meeting that launched the Ukrainian Modernization Agency. Over the past five years BUS has reimbursed Whittingdale for travel expenses to the tune of almost 15,000 pounds, as documented on the British parliament website.
In addition to Lord Risby and John Whittingdale, another man working for Firtash is Lord Oxford. Raymond Asquith, the third Earl of Oxford and Asquith, sits on the supervisory council of Firtash’s holding company Group DF, along with another British trustee, Robert Shetler-Jones.
Until 1997, Lord Oxford was a career diplomat, serving first as first secretary at the British embassy in Moscow, then as counsellor at the British embassy in Kyiv, while also working for the UK secret services as an agent for MI6.
Prior to his peerage, Lord Oxford ran the lobbying firm Asquith & Granovsky (later Asquith & Granovski) Associates for several years. The company also used the consultancy services of Lord Risby, then still Richard Spring MP. Granovsky’s and Lord Oxford’s company paid Spring 35,000–40,000 pounds in 2006; subsequently he started receiving payments from BUS.
This provides further evidence that the British Ukrainian Society is but a front for Dmytro Firtash’s agents of influence — Vladimir Granovsky, Robert Shetler-Jones and Lords Oxford and Risby.
An eyewitness described to the author how Lord Oxford tried to influence Ukrainian politics. In the spring of 2014, after the Revolution of Dignity, three members of the Ukrainian parliament visited London. They were Petro Poroshenko, who was running for president; leader of the UDAR political party Vitali Klitschko; and the Fatherland party member Andriy Shevchenko. Their visit was scheduled to include meetings with prime minister David Cameron as well as with representatives of the UK opposition. According to my source, Lord Oxford tried to get into the Ukrainian politicians’ meeting with the then Labour leader Ed Miliband, and almost managed to enter the room booked for the talks as a member of the Ukrainian delegation. When questions were raised about his presence he introduced himself as an adviser to Viktor Klichko, thus confirming, once again, the rumours of Firtash’s influence over the boxer-turned-politician.
Apart from the individuals listed above, Firtash enjoys the PR support of Lord Bell, former political consultant to Margaret Thatcher, who helped her win three parliamentary elections. Lord Bell, whom Thatcher rewarded with a peerage, uses the company Bell Pottinger to represent his clients’ interests. The person who provides the link between Firtash and Bell is Anthony Fisher, senior consultant with Bell Pottinger and director of the Firtash Foundation. And the list of clients in Fisher’s Curzon PR portfolio includes members of Ukraine’s government under Viktor Yanukovych.
Anthony Fisher, jointly with the Ukrainian oligarch’s top manager Robert Shetler-Jones, is a co-founder of Scythian Limited. The company was engulfed in scandal a few years ago when British prime minister David Cameron refused to appoint Dame Pauline Neville-Jones as national security adviser after being warned that she had received payments from Scythian Limited in the order of tens of thousands of pounds.
Scythian Limited, whose owner works for Firtash, has made occasional donations to the Conservative Party totalling 63,000 pounds, according to the UK Electoral Commission.3
In addition to investing in politicians, Firtash has supported education and the arts in an attempt to clean up his image. He has funded a centre of Ukrainian Studies, which was set up in Cambridge in 2008, introducing a grants programme in 2010. Among the attendees of a private gathering at the Saatchi Gallery, Firtash Foundation features in the list of gallery patrons immediately after Chanel.
It seems that Firtash had intended to turn Britain into a foothold for growing his business, developing political links and whitewashing his CV. In 2013, he acquired property in London not far from the BUS office, at 12a Brompton Square. His wife Lada Firtash is listed as the owner of the property, the value of which was estimated at 1,950,000 pounds shortly before they bought it.
However, the couple’s plans were seriously upset by the oligarch’s arrest in Vienna in March 2014. Even though Austria has turned down the US extradition request, the FBI warrant for his arrest remains in force worldwide. And to challenge the extradition request in a court would cost him much more in the United Kingdom than in Austria, and the chances of success would be much slimmer.
