Trump Offered 19% of Russian Oil to Lift Sanctions Against Russia. Sound Fair?

Remember that “leaked” dossier from a former British spy, Christopher Steele, that claimed that Donald J. Trump enjoyed his ‘Russian Golden Showers?’   Well, there seems to have been a lot more in that dossier than just that one gross image that many Americans are trying very hard to get out of their heads.

Well, there was a little more information that was eclipsed by ‘The Golden Showers.’  But it was information that should have been the story and may just now be leaking out as a much larger problem for the people of The United States than just how their new President may or may not get his ‘wet’ kicks.

And it is a little complicated, but much more important than a shower:

This summer The Russian state oil company, Rosneft, offered former Trump ally, Carter Page and his associates, a 19% stake in the oil company in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against Russia by the United States government should Trump become President of the United States.

Now, pay real close to this:

That was 19% and it was offered in the summer of 2016.

The dossier from Steele, said that the offer was made in July of 2016, when Page was giving a speech in Moscow at the Higher Economic School.    It further claims that Igor Sechin, the CEO of Rosneft, was adamant about making sure that the personal and the corporate sanctions by the western countries be lifted and that he was very willing to provide the 19% stake in his company.

The dossier said, “In return, Page had expressed interest and confirmed that were Trump elected U.S. president, then sanction on Russia would be lifted.”

Page has called the sanctions against the Russian company, “sanctimonious expressions of moral superiority.”  Page was considered “a brazen apologist for anything Moscow did” by an official of the United States who served in Russia.

There is also evidence that Page met with senior Kremlin internal affairs official, Igor Diveykin while he was in Russia.   Diveykin hinted that the Kremlin ‘possessed compromising information about Trump.’

By October, 2016, it was obvious to Sechin that Trump would not be able to pull off a win for the White House.   So, Rosnfet pressed to find a foreign investor.

Then November 8th happened.  Trump won the Presidency.

Now, pay real close attention to this:

December 7, 2016 (one month after the election)

19.5% of Rosneft was sold to an unknown buyer.

That amounts to approximately an $11 billion sale.   But the real important item to notice is the added on .5%  which seems very close to a ‘brokerage fee.‘

This purchase was the largest since the sanctions from the Obama White House took effect in 2014.   Reuters reported, “The ’11th hour deal was ‘so last minute,’ that it appeared it would not close in time to meet the government’s deadline for booking money in the budget from the sale.”

The sale took place on December 7.   Carter Page, the Trump ally, was back in Moscow on December 8.  He was there ‘to meet with some of the top managers’ of Rosneft.

In an article from Reuters United States edition on Commodities, Wednesday, January 25, 2017, “More than a month after Russia announced one of its biggest privatizations since the 1990’s, selling a 19.5% stake in its giant oil company Rosneft, it still isn’t possible to determine from public records the full identities of those who bought it.”

Some of those public records reveal some very troubling information.   For one it was disclosed that the stake in the oil company was a 50/50 split with one of the owners being the Swiss oil trading company, Clencore, and Qatar.   However, the records show that of the $11 Billion, Gencore’s contribution was only $324 million, less than 3% of the purchase price.  Qatar added $2.5 billion or approximately a fourth of the purchase price.

And as just about anyone could have predicted, public records show that the ownership structure of Rosneft oil company ultimately includes a Cayman Islands’ company whose owners cannot be traced.  

Using shell companies owning other  shell companies in the structure of the Rosneft privatization is what in Russia they call a “Matryoshka”  It would certainly be interesting to keep opening each one of this Matryoshka dolls and reveal the next doll and the next and the next until you finally come out to the person who benefits the most from this oddly timed sale.

And that’s My View from The Hill