US$ drops - Russian reserves soar with oil/gas sales and Saddam's paymasters pay up

As the US$ drops slightly to 1.476 against the Euro, Russia's gold and currency reserves rose to an all time high of 459.6bn on November 23, as the Bank of Russias has been hoovering up dollars on the home market - Alexei Ulyukayev, Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, said earlier this month , that Russia's reserves could rise to $470bn by the year-end

China now has $1.434 trillion in reserves, up $101bn in the third quarter and nearly 45% up in the first nine months of 2007. Japan's current reserves exceed $945bn


Boris Berezovsky (AKA Platon Elenin ) gets 6 years for £4.5Mn fraud

Boris Berezovsky at the Savelovsky district court in Moscow has found him guilty in absentia of of stealing over RUR 214 million (approx. US$8.78m) from Russia’s flagship airline Aeroflot and sentenced him to 6 years in prison -= shortened from the 9 years the prosecutors demanded because berezovsky has an under age daughter.

Berezovsky is quoted in Moscow Times ...."As for the ruling, it's an absolute farce,I am absolutely united with Mr. Dudkin (his state appointed lawyer) in this case. I don't give a damn either."

Britain has already twice refused Russian requests to extradite Berezovsky, with a court declining the first request days after he was given asylum in September 2003. British police had arrested Berezovsky on charges from Russia that he and an associate defrauded a regional government of $13 million in the mid-1990s by stealing cars from Russia's largest automaker, AvtoVAZ.

The most recent charge against him is the theft of $13 million from the SBS-Agro bank... the charges caim he organized a criminal group in 1997 to steal over $13 million from the bank

Guvnor and Putin's chum Timchenko see oil wealth grow

Friends of Putin however continue to garner massive wealth - for example, oil pumped by Yuganskneftegaz was previously exported by Yukos or one of its offshore subsidiaries, now the same oil is exported by Gunvor (Norse for "cautious in war"), which has capital reserves that are estimated to be about $20 billion. Gunvor is a Geneva-based oil-trading company co-founded by Putin's chum, Russian ,Gennady Timchenko (see pic) and Swedish oil trader / international yachstman Torbjorn Tornqvist. (Owner / driver of Artemis, he has again won the Annual TP52 Global Classic circuit)

The company claims to handle 30 % of Russia's seaborne oil exports - Gunvor expects trading volumes to rise to 83 million tons from 60 million in 2006, which will make them the world's No. 3 crude trader behind Glencore (formerly called Marc Rich & Co AG)and Dutch group Vitol. With a consequent rise in the oil price their turnover should rise to about $43 billion this year from $30 billion in 2006 (Vito T/O 2006 = US$114 Bn)

UN / OFF program kickbacks lead to heavy fines / payments

Vitol hit the headlines 2 weeks ago when they pleaded guilty to a larceny charge in connection with a scheme to pay secret kickbacks to the Iraqi government in exchange for oil under the United Nations'oil-for-food program

District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau said the company pleaded guilty to a single count of grand larceny in the first degree in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan

Vitol will pay restitution of US$13 million (€8.8 million) to the Development Fund for Iraq and will make a payment of US$4.5 million (€3 million) to the city and state of New York.

They weren't alone as Chevron Corp. also agreed to pay US$30 million (€20.2 million) to settle civil and criminal charges related to secret surcharges paid by third-party merchants in exchange for oil under the programIn February this year El Paso Corp. agreed to pay $7.7 million (€5.2 million) to settle civil and criminal charges that it indirectly paid $5.5 million (€3.7 million) in illegal surcharges to Iraq.

See Guradian 22nd Dec 2007 connection to Putin denied. Ho.Ho.Ho.