The reaction to yesterday’s OCCRP investigation (published in Russian by Meduza) leaves a feeling of sadness.
No, I was under no illusion that Ruben Vardanyan was an honest and transparent businessman. Many years ago, I spent a great deal of time exposing the scheme involving the Skolkovo school. I even remember Lee Kuan Yew writing letters about it back then.
Skolkovo was built with money from the state-owned Sberbank, and no one ever intended to repay the loan, yet Vardanyan and the rest of the oligarchic gang told the naive public and journalists that it was a fantastic commercial project. Not a kopek of state money involved, and so on.
And now OCCRP has uncovered an entire dirty-money laundering factory set up by Vardanyan and Troika Dialog.
They even came up with a special hashtag: #TroikaLaundromat.
Corruption money was laundered and sent to the accounts of:
- Putin’s “wallet,” the cellist Roldugin
- The entire top management of RAO UES (a nod to Chubais)
People from Rostec (a nod to Chemezov and his 5-billion-ruble apartment)
- Vardanyan himself and his inner circle
I’m glad this was exposed (excellent work!), but I’m not surprised at all.
What does surprise me is the reaction of Vardanyan himself and the economist Andrei Movchan, who is quoted extensively in the article. Movchan worked at Troika for six years.
Vardanyan and Movchan are among the standard-bearers of “syslibism” (“systemic liberalism” in Russian politics). Public “systemic liberals,” ideologues of the following approach: Yes, we don’t like Putin, he’s not like us. But better with him than without him. Just look at those mugs out on the street. Without Putin, a bloody revolution would begin immediately. So let’s just make some money while taking advantage of the opportunities that open up.
In the article, Vardanyan calls himself a “conformist”:
Movchan, meanwhile, spent all of 2017 going from one program to another with the same act: Economist Andrei Movchan explains why Alexei Navalny’s platform is very bad, while Ksenia Sobchak’s is very good.
And now these syslibs, who supposedly stand for the right values but are simply too cowardly, are being asked: so what do you make of Troika’s schemes, when millions of dollars are transferred to companies registered in the names of seasonal workers living in Armenia?
And what do they say?
Do you think they at least offer the ritual response: this is outrageous, this should never happen? We have always opposed such schemes and money laundering. Blah blah. We personally were not involved in any of it.
Or fine, maybe something plaintive: it’s not us, it’s just the way life is?
But no, both of them just shrug and say: it’s all fine. A little inefficient, perhaps, but not really a problem. I can’t judge, I’m not an investigator (quote).
Movchan:
Vardanyan:
It’s sad. One would at least like to hear a formal distancing and condemnation of what happened. People expect those words from you, so say them: this is wrong. This is bad business practice.
But no. They remain true to themselves.
Instead of a conclusion, here’s this: if you want to clarify the term “syslib,” just google it, and the first link will give you the following definition.
That last part is wonderful and, in light of the OCCRP investigation, very accurate.