Thread by @allthecitizens

During his Commons statement and responses following the release of the Sue Gray #Partygate update, the PM repeated a variation of the pledge to “stand up against Vladimir Putin” several times.

But how able is the country to do that under a government led by Boris Johnson? 🧵

When the Intelligence and Security Committee report into Russian interference in UK public life arrived in 2020 - months late - it contained numerous examples of Russian state-linked efforts to undermine democracy.

Among them, oligarchs close to the Kremlin buying political influence and engaging in ‘illicit financial dealings’

The report highlighted the role of UK investor visa scheme and loose regulation as playing a role in facilitating Russian money working its way into the country, and that cash was invested into “PR firms, charities, political interests, academia, and cultural institutions”

It outlined that Russia’s elite ex-pats were offered “ideal mechanisms by which illicit finance could be recycled through what has been referred to as the London ‘laundromat’. Money was also invested in extending patronage and building influence across the British establishment”

It also noted that “a number of Members of the House of Lords have business interests linked to Russia, or work directly for major Russian companies linked to the Russian State”

It pointed out that Tory peers Lords Fairfax and Barker have both been employed by RU state-owned energy / transportation companies Sovcomflot and EN+ (owned by Putin ally Oleg Deripaska) respectively

But these activities are far from limited to the HoL…
parliament.uk/globalassets/d…

.@allthecitizens have previously highlighted failings of the report to shed light on the extent of the Russian influence, but new research shows that 7 oligarchs have donated over £4.8m to 40 Conservative politicians and the party over the last 2 decades.

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1486796113013362694?s=20&t=_2hTh996ABoLsk85qW4gGQ

Alexander Temerko

Conservative central party and constituencies of 36 local Tory MPs, inc. 3 current Cabinet ministers, have all accepted donations from Temerko, who has given over £1.6m personally and through his firms Aquind and Offshore Group Newcastle
news.sky.com/story/energy-f…

Publicly Temerko, who counts Johnson among his friends (referring to him as 'sasha' the Russian diminutive for Alexander), presents as an opponent of Brexit and Putin, but privately called the vote to leave the EU a “revolution against bureaucracy”.

The former oil and arms executive has also been reported as having links to Russian intelligence, which both he and the Kremlin deny.
reuters.com/investigates/s…

Lubov Chernukhin

Ex-banker and wife of Putin’s former deputy finance minister Vladimir Chernukhin, Lubov is the largest female donor in UK political history, and has given £2.1m to the Tories since 2012, most recently in June 2021.
theguardian.com/politics/2020/…

Lubov has long been fond of connecting with the political elite, having paid £160,000 to play Tennis with Cameron and Johnson, £30,000 to have dinner with Gavin Williamson, and £135,000 at a Tory Black & White Ball event to have dinner with Theresa May.
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…

The Chernukhin’s were recently exposed in the #PandoraPapers to have an “extraordinary reliance” on offshore wealth, and going to “considerable lengths” to keep their finances secret.
theguardian.com/news/2021/oct/…

They’ve also been linked to receiving money from prominent Russian politician and billionaire Suleyman Kerimov.
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-542280…

Lev Mikheev

Billionaire financier with offices in London and “next door to the Kremlin” in Russia, Mikheev made much of his money from the Salute Capital Management hedge fund.

He’s donated £209,500 to the Tories.
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2…

Alexander Knaster

Billionaire founder of Pamplona Capital Management, a London-based firm that was flagged in the Paradise Papers for its offshore registration in Malta, he is behind £455,000 in Conservative Party donations, including to Robert Jenrick.
theguardian.com/business/2013/…

Knaster is reportedly close with Mikhail Fridman, a Russian-based oligarch and co-founder of Alfa Group with close Kremlin ties. Alfa has been a cornerstone investor in Pamplona, and Knaster is a former CEO of Alfa, a position offered to him by Fridman.
ft.com/content/d6b184…

Len Blavatnik

Listed as the 35th wealthiest person in the world as of 2021, businessman and philanthropist Blavatnik has accrued a vast amount of wealth via his conglomerate firm Access Industries, which has donated £144,450 to the Conservatives.

Through oil mergers, Blavatnik is said to be “close” with Putin-friendly billionaires Fridman and Viktor Vekselberg, and was a subject of criticism for donating £75m to Oxford uni, which it was said should “stop selling its reputation to Putin associates"
theguardian.com/education/2015…

Gerard Lopez

Chairman of Rise Capital, which has signed infrastructure deals worth billions across Russia, Lopez donated a massive sum of £400,000 to the Tories in 2016, and Rise managing partner Sergei Romashov is understood to be a Putin ally.
theguardian.com/politics/2016/…

George Piskov

Director of Uniastrum Bank and money transfer company Protobase Laboratories, Piskov has donated £17,378 to the Conservative Party.
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…

The PM yesterday was en-route to Kyiv to meet with President Zelenskyy, amid fears of an invasion from Russian forces.

The move follows Downing St. having to back out of a phone call with Putin, because Johnson was embroiled in statements in the wake of Sue Gray’s interim report

Johnson is said to have “warned” Putin that any further action into Ukraine will be met with severe sanctions, sentiments echoed by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who stated in the Commons “those in and around the Kremlin will have nowhere to hide”.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

But, as US think-tank the Centre for American Progress noted in a report on the escalating situation, ‘uprooting Kremlin-linked oligarchs will be a challenge given the close ties between Russian money and the UK’s ruling Conservative Party’.
americanprogress.org/article/how-th…

As a US diplomatic source recently told The Times, “The fear is that Russian money is so entrenched in London now that the opportunity to use it as leverage against Putin could be lost”
thetimes.co.uk/article/ukrain…

There's a Russian expression - Дарёному коню в зубы не смотрят - loosely meaning, ‘Don’t Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth’...

And so, even as Johnson seemingly faces down Putin, is it worth questioning if he or the Conservatives have the desire to address the issue of post-Soviet money flooding into ‘Londongrad’?