Following swiftly on Gerhard Schroeder’s decision to accept the chairmanship of a “pipeline consortium owned by Gazprom”:http://news.ft.com/cms/s/23e9ee86-6906-11da-bd30-0000779e2340.html, “this”:http://news.ft.com/cms/s/e4c849c0-6c87-11da-90c2-0000779e2340.html is rather creepy.
bq. Donald Evans, a close friend of president George W. Bush and the former commerce secretary, met president Vladimir Putin of Russia last week but refused to be drawn on growing speculation that he had been offered the chairmanship of Rosneft, Russia’s state-controlled oil company. A person close to Mr Evans on Tuesday confirmed the meeting with Mr Putin but refused to comment on a report by Russia’s Kommersant newspaper that he had been offered the job ahead of Rosneft’s expected initial public offering next year. The appointment of a former high-ranking Bush administration official to the top ranks of a Russian oil company would generate shock waves in Washington.
{ 16 comments }
Dmitri 12.14.05 at 10:56 pm
Out of curiosity, what is in it for the Russian companies? Legitimacy? Appearance of lack of corruption for investors?
Ian Whitchurch 12.15.05 at 12:16 am
Dmitri,
Pretty much. And if they dont do what Czar Vladimir wants, they get fired.
Ian Whitchurch
Zephania 12.15.05 at 4:15 am
Since Yuschenko is toadying up to Putin; does this mean that the millions of dollars that Berezovsky spent manipulating the Ukraine election has been wasted?
abb1 12.15.05 at 4:20 am
To me, bringing a politician to run the business means less legitimacy, not more. And what kind of legitimacy is there other than thick black liquid flowing thru those pipes? Sounds more like some kind of a mafia consolidation and globalisation.
Peter Clay 12.15.05 at 4:26 am
Good grief. It’s bad enough having the oiligarchy run Russia, but them diversifying into other countries is a worrying development.
(This post is mostly an excuse to promulgate “oiligarghy” :)
abb1 12.15.05 at 6:05 am
promoilgate oiligarghy?
dp 12.15.05 at 7:19 am
‘Appearance of lack of corruption’???
With a Bush involved? Hello? More likely the inverse: appearance of the correct corruption.
MJ Memphis 12.15.05 at 8:04 am
Hmm… if they recruited Mike Brown too, then they could have both the appearance of a lack of corruption, and the luster of sheer competence too. That is, if they lived in bizarro-universe.
Dan Kervick 12.15.05 at 8:28 am
Out of curiosity, what is in it for the Russian companies? Legitimacy? Appearance of lack of corruption for investors?
Oh I don’t know. Why did Halliburton hire Dick Cheney? It is clearly beneficial for a company such as Rosneft to have strong personal connections at the highest levels of the US government. Evans, who is very close to Bush, is about as well-connected as you can get. He also has a lot of experience in the oil and gas industry.
It looks like the Russians, careful observers of US politics, have learned how best to work with an administration and Republican machine that is based on cronyism, graft and and campaign money laundering. Evans was Bush’s campaign finance chairman in 2000, and was very good at it. Perhaps in his new position, if he takes it, he will figure out some way of turning Rosneft into a Republican cash cow.
As for the investors, it is more likely the scent of the right kind of corruption rather than the lack of corruption that is most attractive. Rosneft’s future profitably would surely be enhanced by having lots of buyable friends in Washington. For one thing, it is an insurance policy against future US military actions that might put Rosneft’s assets and relationships in jeopardy.
Maria 12.15.05 at 8:42 am
To respond to the question of what’s in it for the Russians, the answer (in the case of Schroeder) is probably; it’s a pay off for services already rendered. In his last few weeks in office in September, Schroeder shoved through the Gazprom pipeline deal that cut off the Poles, Ukrainians and the Baltics.
I’d been thinking of blogging this and took some notes earlier in the week when the WSJ remarked that Schroeder may find his “new comrades at Gazprom with views of the world that are compatible with his ownâ€, i.e. a reference to Schroeder’s ex-commie board buddies. I imagine the WSJ isn’t being quite so snotty today regarding Evans – it’s clear that cronyism goes across the political spectrum.
This is a very troubling development but it’s symptomatic of German willingness to do just about anything to stay in with Putin. And it’s paying off – the Germans are now the only NATO member with a military base still in Uzbekistan, for example. And they’ve clearly just secured a very important future source of energy for themselves. Or at least the promise of it…
Barry 12.15.05 at 8:47 am
“…I imagine the WSJ isn’t being quite so snotty today regarding Evans – it’s clear that cronyism goes across the political spectrum.”
Oh, I’m sure that they’ll be snotty – but about those Evul Libruls who dare to question the Free Market.
otto 12.15.05 at 9:16 am
Since the Kuwaitis are planning to privatise their oil production, perhaps Don Evans should hold out for that job instead – or maybe he can combine them?
Grand Moff Texan 12.15.05 at 10:45 am
earlier in the week when the WSJ remarked that Schroeder may find his “new comrades at Gazprom with views of the world that are compatible with his ownâ€
Ah, that would explain why rightwing bloggers kept bringing up Schroeder at random intervals a couple of days ago. It was surreal. Poor dears hadn’t gotten their talking-points straight and wound up sounding like bots.
.
MQ 12.15.05 at 2:09 pm
“Out of curiosity, what is in it for the Russian companies? Legitimacy? Appearance of lack of corruption for investors?”
That’s hilarious. Do you really think that association with Republican party fundraisers is a sign of lack of corruption? It’s just a sign that you’re bribing the right people.
nick s 12.15.05 at 7:29 pm
The appointment of a former high-ranking Bush administration official to the top ranks of a Russian oil company would generate shock waves in Washington.
Heck, my congressman owns a Russian bank, which has traded off his position, regardless of the obvious ethical issues.
P O'Neill 12.15.05 at 10:12 pm
Friday’s WSJ has a related story:
Putin woos Evans for Rosneft job
Kremlin seeks clout
of Bush confidant
before oil firm’s IPO
By GREGORY L. WHITE
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
December 16, 2005
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered former U.S. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans a top job at Russian state oil company OAO Rosneft, highlighting the Kremlin’s desire to use Westerners to help legitimize its tightening grip over the energy sector.
Two people familiar with the conversation confirmed Mr. Putin made the unexpected offer at a Kremlin meeting last week with Mr. Evans, a confidant of U.S. President George W. Bush. Mr. Evans didn’t give an answer at the meeting, these people said, but is considering the offer. He is likely to decline what would probably be a largely ceremonial post at a company with a controversial history, these people said.
A Kremlin spokesman declined to comment. But Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said at a news conference Thursday that the government would, in principle, welcome the participation of top Western executives in big local companies. “As for Evans, we’ll soon find out,” the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
A person taking calls for Mr. Evans on the matter said he wasn’t available for comment. She confirmed he met Mr. Putin but declined to comment on what was discussed.
The news comes just a week after Russian state gas giant OAO Gazprom named former German Prime Minister Gerhard Schroeder as chairman of a $5 billion Russian-controlled venture building a pipeline under the Baltic Sea to supply gas to Europe. That appointment sparked criticism of Mr. Schroeder, who while in office was a strong supporter of Mr. Putin and the pipeline project.
…
One of the challenges will be to persuade Western investors, many of whom saw the value of their holdings of Yukos decimated, to buy Rosneft. Yukos and its shareholders are still challenging the government breakup of the company and Rosneft’s acquisition of its core asset in Russian and foreign courts.
“We consider their ownership in that asset to be contested,” Yukos Chief Executive Officer Stephen Theede said in an interview last week. Rosneft has said it expects to acquire more Yukos assets.
The hiring of Mr. Evans, a veteran Texas oil man with a history of working with President Bush, would be a big boost for Rosneft’s efforts to portray itself as a world-class oil company. As commerce secretary, Mr. Evans developed a close relationship with Russian Economics Minister German Gref, one of the advocates of the Rosneft IPO.
One person close to the situation said the Kremlin invited Mr. Evans for the visit without disclosing what the real topic was. At the Kremlin meeting, “Putin just dropped it on him, said would you consider being the chairman or co-chairman of Rosneft,” this person said.
Mr. Putin insisted the offer be kept secret, but news leaked within days to a Russian newspaper.
Mr. Evans, who left Mr. Bush’s cabinet after the president’s first term, often said that he looked forward to spending more time in Midland, their West Texas hometown. In June, he became chief executive of the Washington-based Financial Services Forum, made up of the top executives of the nation’s 20 largest financial-services firms, while his family returned to Midland. He still splits his time between the two cities.
Rosneft’s rise to prominence has coincided with the naming of Igor Sechin, the powerful Kremlin deputy chief of staff and a longtime Putin friend, as chairman. Mr. Sechin, who Kremlin officials say doesn’t give interviews, was one of the main architects of the Kremlin’s attack on Yukos, according to several current and former officials.
….
The Bush administration has for several years sought to boost energy cooperation with the world’s No. 2 oil exporter. But while Mr. Bush has developed a warm personal relationship with Mr. Putin, the U.S. has made little headway in opening up Russia’s oil and gas resources as the Kremlin has steadily reasserted its control over the sector. Exxon, for example, was negotiating a deal to buy a large stake in Yukos right before the Kremlin arrested Mr. Khodorkovsky and slapped the company with billions in back-tax claims.
In recent months, the Kremlin has taken some steps to reassure foreign capitals and investors. Mr. Putin selected energy security as the main theme for the Group of Eight summit meeting to be held in St. Petersburg in June.
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