[aaus-list] Re: Putin's Growing Appetite

[Vadim]

What Ukraine should fear is the greed of its own unprincipled
politicians -- that is the fair greater root of the problem, not some
grand evil scheme by Russians to purchase and enslave Ukraine.

The tone of the article hints at a far right political bias of the
author, but the text is informative. Thanks.

Vadim



On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 9:50 PM, Steve <stevefob at gmail.com> wrote:
> Putin's Growing Appetite
> by Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld (more by this author)
> Posted 09/29/2008 ET
>
>
>
> President George W. Bush meeting today (Monday Sept. 29) with Ukraine's
> President,  aims at strengthening Viktor Yushchenko's stand against the
> Kremlin. On the agenda is Russia's growing threats against and meddling in
> Ukraine's domestic politics in effort to derail its pending integration into
> NATO.
>
> This meeting, as Bush's condemnation of the Kremlin's aggression towards its
> neighbors, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's fierce criticism of
> Russia's war against Georgia, do little to slow Prime Minister and former
> President Vladimir Putin's efforts to destabilize Ukraine, corner its food
> industry's development and export, and buy a foothold in its major ports.
>
> On September 15, Moscow efforts led to the collapse of Ukraine's coalition
> government. This crisis came shortly after the Russian foreign office
> condemned Ukraine's "unfriendly" policies toward Moscow, especially
> President Viktor Yushchenko's latest movement restrictions on Russia's Black
> Sea fleet , and his objection to renew the Kremlin's lease of Ukrainian
> ports. Russia needs these ports to obtain greater access to their shipyards
> and to the Black Sea.
>
> Russia's military and political aggression became a cause célèbre in the
> West. Unnoticed, however, are the activities of the Kremlin's loyal
> oligarchs growing control over Ukraine's ports. Going far beyond energy, the
> Russian strategy now expands to control over the region's scarce
> commodities, including food resources, threatening to leave millions of
> people cold and starving.
>
> Food shortages and spiraling prices are spurring riots and creating
> emergencies worldwide, says director general of the Rome-based UN Food and
> Agriculture Organization (FAO), Jacques Diouf. Over 852 million (above 13%)
> of the world population is malnourished.  Last April, global cereal reserves
> were already so low; they could feed the world for only 8 to 12 weeks.
>
> The World Bank calls Ukraine "one of the few countries in the world,"
> capable of significantly increasing net grain exports. Aptly, Kiev decided
> last April to increase its grain export quotas.
>
> For 69 years, Ukraine was the U.S.S.R. "breadbasket" Until breaking free in
> 1991 from the Soviet boot, Ukraine supplied over 25% of all the U.S. S. R.
> agricultural produce; now it's the world's 8th largest wheat exporter, and
> ranks 10th overall for cereals exports.
>
> Ukraine's government early this year asked the World Bank to facilitate
> President Viktor Yushchenko's 2005 plan to double its food production, thus
> turning it to the "breadbasket of Europe." The World Bank prepared a special
> Note: "Competitive Agriculture or State Control: Ukraine's response to the
> global food crisis," concluding, "Ukraine is in a position to make a
> significant contribution to the international effort to deal with the food
> crisis."
>
> Unfortunately, Ukraine's unstable coalition government almost simultaneously
> thwarted Yushchenko's plans with new grain export restrictions costing
> Ukraine food producers more than $2 billion last year, thus devaluing its
> entire agro-business industry. This opened the door to the Russians.
>
> In February 2008, according to Ukrainian media reports, Russia's
> FedComInvest assumed control of Sumykhimprom, Ukraine's largest fertilizer
> manufacturer, whose products are essential to growing healthy crops and
> increasing Ukraine agricultural yields.
>
> FedComInvest belongs to the leading Russian sulfur supplier, FedCom, which
> generates some $2 billion in annual sales. It was founded in 1996 by Alexei
> Fedoricsev, a minor league millionaire, and listed as a major investor in
> the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
>
> The Sochi Winter Olympics are Putin's treasured baby. Like the Chinese with
> the Beijing Olympics, Putin aims through the Sochi Olympics to validate the
> success of his very own "new Russia."
>
> With Putin's 'encouragement' Russia's oligarchs -- the richest, $28 billion
> worth Rusal chieftain Oleg Deripaska (banned from entering the U.S.), to
> less known, and other shadowy figures like Fedoricsev, who barely squeaked
> onto the tail end of a recent Forbes Russia Golden 100 list, with roughly
> $450 million -- invest heavily in the forthcoming Sochi Olympics, and other
> related projects.
>
> Meanwhile, Fedorychev's Russian TransInvestService, another FedCom company,
> recently obtained a $50 million contract to build the largest Ukrainian
> container terminal for the Port of Yuzhny, to facilitate food- and
> fertilizer-shipping to Europe and the Middle East. (The Saudis are becoming
> major clients.) Ukraine's Transportation and Communications Ministry
> describes FedComInvest's activities as "corporate raiding." Other Russian
> companies also made huge investments in major Ukraine sea and river ports.
>
> "The Kremlin has established a group of "service oligarchs," people with
> shady past, who are ready to use any methods to reach their ends," states
> Dr. political science professor Valentin Yakushik at Kiev's Mogilaynsky
> Academy. Moreover, Fedorychev allegedly has a criminal record and was on the
> receiving end of Yukos' remains after Khodorkovsky's lynching, according to
> prominent Russian investigative journalist Yulia Latynina.
>
> Not long ago, Interpol investigated Fedorychev for alleged money laundering
> and links to notorious international arms/drugs and diamond dealers Leonid
> Efimovich Minin, now serving time in Italy, and illusive Victor Anatolyevic
> Bout, who was arrested in Thailand last March on an FBI warrant.
>
> The French newspapers Le Monde, Le Parisien, and Aujourd'hui followed the
> investigation closely, reported Fedorychev got away due to lack of evidence.
> Though "Fedorychev's close associate was indicted" says Inna Weiss at the
> Central Group of European Political Monitoring. "The publicity led cautious
> members of Europe's money elite -- notably, late Prince Rainier of Monaco --
> to cut business ties with Fedorychev to the minimum." This, however, did
> little to stop Putin's oligarchs from gaining control over strategically
> important assets in Ukraine and other former Soviet republics, thus
> threatening the stability of the region and U.S. national security.
>
> Moreover,  Putin uses President Bush's support to Ukraine  and Georgia's
> fledging democracies as justification and opportunity to further undermine
> the U.S. influence in the region. Indeed, challenging Putin's ambitions
> while defusing the tension in U.S. Russian relations would present a real
> test to the next U.S. Administration.
>
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