Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin: a secret arrangement Based on my professional experience as a former Russian investment banker and taking into account my personal experience as well, I have reasonable grounds to be certain that Mr. Tony Blair on one side and Mr. Putin and Gazprom (the Russian state-controlled gas monopoly) on another, reached a secret arrangement in 2004. I am confident that Tony Blair agreed to make sure that the British government would provide its consent to a potential purchase of Centrica (the British holding company that owns British Gas) by Gazprom in exchange of a transfer of funds in GBP equivalent to approximately USD 8.2 million to finance re-election campaign of Tony Blair in 2005. Putin and Gazprom clearly realized that if Gazprom had made an official bid to purchase Centrica, the British public and political opposition would have raised their strong concerns. In order to placate such opposition and to prepare the public they had envisaged the British Labour government to provide its consent to the sale. Tony Blair was quoted by mass media with positive comments on the proposed sale. I think that strong criticism on Iraq war and domestic policies prevented him from delivering to the Russians what he initially had promised. I think that the issue was discussed during a short official visit of Putin to the UK in 2006. I have submitted my information and my allegations to the Metropolitan police in 2006, namely to Mr. John Yates, then Deputy Assistant Commissioner (by registered mail). I have equally informed Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Charles (by registered mail), as well as a number of leading British politicians: the Rt. Hon. Sir Malcolm Rifkind, MP (by registered mail), the Rt. Hon. Sir Manzies Campbell, MP (by registered mail), Mrs. Sarah Teather, MP (by registered mail) and Mr. Angus MacNeil, MP (by fax). I have reasons to be confident that my allegations had been investigated, confirmed and included in the file that was submitted in 2007 by the Metropolitan police to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that was in a position to make a final decision on the case. Prior to that and only a week after my letter to HMQ, the Metropolitan police arrested Ms. Ruth Turner, the closest aide of Tony Blair, widely referred to as gate-keeper, who was specifically put in charge of inter-government relations. Lord Levy, the key fundraiser to Tony Blair, was equally arrested by the Metropolitan police. There was no connection between inter-government relations and cash-for-honours, unless my allegations are taken into account. As far as I remember, Mr. John Yates who led the police inquiry and found himself under severe pressure from MPs, stated in the House of Commons in 2007, that his team needed additional time since they had received additional new information that allowed to consider the case from a different perspective. Tony Blair himself was interviewed several times by the police investigators from cash-for-honours inquiry team lead by John Yates. The last interview took place after my letter to Her Majesty the Queen (dated 15.01.2007). Before that interview there were leaks to mass media that the police team were planning to question Mr. Blair under caution which by itself was considered as just one step prior to be presented with criminal charges by the police. The police investigators, as was quoted by the British mass media, were considering incriminating perjury and preventing of the cause of justice to Ruth Turner, Lord Levy and apparently, to Tone Blair as well. As was equally leaked to the press the office of Prime minister had assured the Metropolitan police that once Tony Blair had been invited for an interview under caution he would have presented his resignation to the Queen. The police team had chosen to be more cautious and interviewed Tony Blair as a witness again taking into account high sensitivity of the issue. Even in case they thought they had had enough unequivocal evidence at that time to prove the case beyond any reasonable doubt they were not in a position to make a final decision that could have completely destabilized the politics of the UK. I have reasons to be confident that at some point, due to highly sensitive nature of this case all parties that become aware of the circumstances reached a political arrangement for Mr. Blair to leave his position of the Prime Minister and no criminal charges to be launched against him or/and his close colleagues (Lord Levy and Ruth Turner). Not surprisingly, British politicians were not prepared to acknowledge directly or indirectly that the leader of British Labour party, acting Prime minister of the UK had agreed to accept financing for his re-election campaign from a foreign government (led by the former officer of foreign intelligence) in exchange for a consent to sell a major national asset. I am sure that the final document submitted to CPS by Mr. John Yates should have contained the confirmation of my allegations. I am wondering if there is any chance to find any unbiased and independent journalists (or someone else who may have similar public concerns) who may be in a position to launch a relevant inquiry? I do strongly believe in the following. If the final file submitted in 2007 by special police team led by John Yates to the Crown Prosecution Service had been made public, it would have revealed that Tony Blair was guilty of perjury and preventing the cause of justice (which is a felony). Equally, I do think that Tony Blair acting in a position of the prime-minister of the UK and a leader of the British Labour party had committed an act of treason by accepting cash from Russian authorities and Gazprom in exchange for an arrangement to guarantee British government consent to sell Centrica (British Gaz) to Russian Gazprom. I have tried many times to contact the British mass media regarding the allegations but there was almost no feedback, not to mention any publicity to my allegations. Only once The Jewish news published my Letter to the Editor (in summer 2007) related to ordeals of refused asylum seekers in the UK. I think I should mention that I am a former witness in a legal lawsuit that was launched in Washington, D.C. in 2005 by a group of US-based investors against the Russian Federation, Gazprom, Rosneft and a number of Russian government officials (Mr. Sechin and Mr. Kudrin) related to so-called "YUKOS case" (Allen, et at. v. Russian Federation, et al., Civil No. 05-2077, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, action for expropriation of YUKOS Oil Company). In 2003-2005 I was employed by Gazprombank (financial arm of Gazprom) as a Head of Securities trading department. I was a key coordinator of all major transactions that were initiated by top management of the bank or Gazprom and involved securities or derivative financial instruments. In 2005 I send my reports to the Central Bank of Russia, Russian Financial Markets Federal Commission (FSFR) and General Prosecutor with my allegations related to illegal and dubious, in my view, financial transactions. My employment with the bank was terminated shortly after my reports. When I made a decision to claim asylum in the UK I was not yet aware what in particular was behind some suspicious financial transactions that involved a leading London-based banking institution, an offshore company registered in Dublin, British nationals that acted as consultants and intermediaries. I have been persecuted by the Russian authorities since 2005. I have reasons to be certain that the British authorities had been cooperating with the Russian authorities and refused my asylum application in 2007 irrespective of the fact that I was a witness in the legal lawsuit launched in the US.
To my regret, my experience and ordeals have persuaded me that top officials and leading politicians are well above law not only in Russia ... It was a very sad discovery for me to realize that almost the whole state system in the UK Home Office, NASS, intelligence (most probably both MI5 and MI6) as well as legal counsels and judges of Immigration and Asylum Tribunal (IAT) were all involved in the process of allowing the top British official to commit his abuse of power and participated in a well-coordinated campaign of persecuting me and forcing me to return back to Russia to their Russian colleagues. With the exception of the police team led by John Yates, British police (both local and Metropolitan) had acted rather controversially. Mass media refrained from an independent journalist inquiry and the opposition preferred to bargain a deal. They had apparently decided that they would not benefit anything from making laymen public aware of the issue. I have equally tried to contact (with some documents attached) Wikileaks, Ms. Heather Brooke and Mr. Michael Gillard and others. Unfortunately all my efforts have been to no avail and usually there was no feedback whatsoever. Based on my experience I tend to distrust mass media in general since it seems the professionals in this area prefer to use any sensitive information either to their benefit and pass it to any interested party or group or harsh up anything that may significantly damage interests of authorities and thus to avoid any pressure. That happened in the UK and that happened in Russia as well. Russian press had provided coverage to some of my allegations only after my witness statement was included in the amended legal lawsuit filed in the USA in July 2006 (related to YUKOS case mentioned earlier) and became available in the internet. Recently I have requested asylum on political grounds in Lithuania (EU member as well as the UK). Currently I am residing in the Centre for asylum seekers located in Pabrade, small town not far from Vilnius and waiting for an appropriate decision of immigration authorities that is expected within 2 5 months. Unfortunately, since my allegations, in my view, are much more sensitive for the British authorities than for the Russians, I think I have more reasons to expect something dire might happen to me here in Lithuania due to the endeavours taken by the British intelligence. If I had been some Russian crook with a fortune hidden in different offshore jurisdictions I would surely have been much more welcome in the UK. But since I am a decent person who knows too much and not prepared to succumb to pressure from authorities I am equally not welcome neither in Russia not in the UK. Time will show if I have better chances here in Lithuania. In any case, my Russian and British well-wishers wont leave me alone wherever I reside. Do you think that in case my allegations are supported by any additional proof provided by another, alternative source, anyone may trust Tony Blair as a special envoy in Middle East talks? In case he was prepared to accept cash "incentive" or "loan" while he was Prime Minister of the UK (and I am confident that he accepted it indeed), is there ANYTHING to stop him from being biased and to act against any peaceful solution of tensions in the Middle East ? Equally, if Mr. Putin and Gazprom were in a position to reach such arrangement and influence the top political leaders of the UK, what may prevent the Russian authorities, taking into account their aggressive political ambitions and strong tendency to use gas supplies as a political tool, to influence other members of the EU ? In my view, its very important to publish the allegations. Firstly, my constant attempts have been the main tool of my physical survival. Secondly, I do truly believe that this information is of paramount importance for the general public since that shows the true, unseemly and undisguised face of the current politics. I will highly appreciate any comment and your kind advice and suggestions.
