It has finally become clear why the coalition has been debating the issue of strategic fuel reserves for so long, and this clarity has been given by none other than the opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was arrested in Russia, in the film “Putin's palace. History of world's largest bribe”. When paying for the pre-emptive right to purchase oil products from the company Gunvor, Latvia practically transfers money to the account of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
The film is being watched with great enthusiasm around the world, and especially in recent days, because of the continuing unrest in Russia. Proponents of Navalny go on demonstrations, but the authorities put the demonstrators in prison. More than 5,000 political prisoners, including Navalny himself and his wife, were reported yesterday morning. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office said yesterday that it supports the Federal Penitentiary Service's request to change the suspended sentence of Navalny to a real prison sentence, and the court will hear the case today.
Navalny was convicted in 2014 of embezzling from Yves Rocher and laundering money. The case was finalized in the Supreme Court in 2018, leaving the judgment in force - three and a half years of suspended sentence. The term is coming to an end. However, in the opinion of the authorities, Navalny did not fulfill his court duties and did not allow himself to be supervised. So now he had to be put in jail for real.
It should be recalled that Navalny has been particularly active in campaigning against Putin in recent years and has been poisoned in between. He was healed in Germany, but on his return to Russia, he was immediately taken prisoner. It doesn't matter in this story if and what Navalny and his brother ever did to the beauty industry company Yves Rocher. The important thing is that Navalny is Putin's most serious competitor and is being persecuted in Russia.
Latvia's actions in condemning this persecution on the one hand, but providing company in Putin's pocket with regular orders on the other hand, are vile hypocrisy.
Last Friday, the Saeima's Foreign Affairs Committee issued a statement where it “strongly condemns the illegal and politically motivated detention of Aleksei Navalny upon his return to Russia, carried out by the Russian authorities in an attempt to silence the opposition and critics of the regime;
call for an immediate and unconditional release of Aleksei Navalny and an investigation into the poisoning;
recommend the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia to take an active stand on this matter and substantially intensify the EU response by establishing restrictive measures;
call on the Russian public authorities to immediately discontinue the persecution, intimidation and suppression, as well as other forms of violations of the human rights of their political opponents and social activists (including members of the Russian NGO Anti-Corruption Foundation)."
The Anti-Corruption Foundation is an organization founded by Navalny that produced the film Putin's Palace. And in connection with this film, the Latvian Saeima, the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be ashamed, because in the film, Navalny himself explains what the Gunvor company is, to which Latvia transfers money from year to year for the storage of strategic oil reserves.
As strongly as it condemns the arrest of Navalny, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima should strongly condemn the State Construction Control Bureau, which concluded an agreement with Gunvor Petroleum Rotterdam B.V. at the end of last year for the storage of 120,000 tonnes of petrol in the Netherlands. The contract price is 1,843,200 euros without VAT. And the Ministry of Economics should also be strongly condemned, since it has allowed its institution to do so, as well as the Cabinet of Ministers, which has been accepting the purchase of a fuel reservation service for years, not even through a tender but through a negotiated procedure, from the Gunvor group.
Here's what Alexei Navalny says about Gunvor in the film. Gunvor is the cornerstone of Putin's wealth. Oil. If you have the time, you can watch the whole movie from start to finish. If not - the story of Putin's connection with Gunvor can be viewed from the 12:04 here.
Taking a few minutes you can learn that the four largest Russian oil companies trade abroad exclusively through the Swiss-registered company Gunvor. The company's founder is Putin's friend Gennady Timchenko, and one of the shareholders, Peter Kolbin, is a holder of Putin's share. And ever since Putin was the deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, he has controlled all of Russia's oil exports and benefited from it personally. In Navalny's opinion - stolen and appropriated it. That is the foundation for that palace.
Significantly, it is not only Navalny, who is Putin's political competitor and therefore will not say anything good about Putin, but also the United States that equate the words Gunvor and Putin. In 2014, when Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States imposed sanctions on a number of politicians and businessmen close to the Kremlin, including Gennady Timchenko.
The decision was explained in the press release as follows:
"Gennady Timchenko is one of the founders of Gunvor, one of the world’s largest independent commodity trading companies involved in the oil and energy markets. Timchenko’s activities in the energy sector have been directly linked to Putin. Putin has investments in Gunvor and may have access to Gunvor funds."
The press release can be read here.
Perhaps members of the Latvian government have not yet watched a film by Russian oppositionist Alexei Navalny. Maybe they don't think it applies to them in any way. However, the coalition usually treats its overseas allies with the utmost respect and reverence - it regularly goes to the embassies to get new orders and invites overseas consultants to the Ministry of Finance. But this is the time when the example set by the United States really is worth trusting.
Given the tense geopolitical situation, Latvia should not finance the private business of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. And he should not receive EUR 1,843,200 without VAT this year too. Such a transfer endangers the security of the Latvian state.