Stanislav Belkovsky
Stanislav Alexandrovich Belkovsky (Russian: Станислав Александрович Белковский) (born 7 February 1971, Moscow, USSR) is a Russian political analyst and communication specialist. A political conservative, he is the cousin of exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky. He is a founder and director of the National Strategy Institute and of the communication company Politech.
Biography
In 2002 he was allegedly hired by the Kremlin to launch a communication campaign against Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and founded a non-profit organization The Council for National Strategywhich was used to spread rumours toward Khodorkovsky and his company Yukos.
In 2003 the Council published a series of reports entitled "State and oligarchy" (June 9) and "New Vertical of Power" (September 22). The reports publication, which inter alia alleged the ongoing preparations of a putsch by Russia's oligarchs, closely foreshadowed the start of the criminal prosecution against Yukos and its top managers. The report, which was allegedly part of a "smear campaign",[1] specifically mentioned Mikhail Khodorkovsky as one of the alleged conspirators.[2]
Since 2004 Belkovsky has been head of the National Strategy Institute, which is a think-tank gathering several Russian political scientists and analysts.
Views and allegations
During president Putin's second term in power, amidst the heated debate in Russia about Putin's further intentions, Belkovsky was of the opinion that Putin would relinquish political power altogether, and assume a post designed simply to guarantee his personal security and wealth.[3]
Die Welt[4] published his sensational allegations about Putin's personal wealth: Putin "controls a 4.5% stake in Gazprom, 37% in Surgutneftegaz" as well as 50% in the oil-trading company Gunvor, which is run by his close friend Gennady Timchenko.
However, some commentators questioned the true motives behind the statements of Stanislav Belkovsky since he has been actively engaged in a campaign to discredit Mikhail Khodorkovsky and is said to be close to Russian Prime Minister and leader of the Kremlin Silovik faction, Igor Sechin who was fighting by this time the growing influence of current president Dmitry Medvedev, seen as more liberal. They even went so far as suggest that he made the disclosure about Putin's alleged wealth to convince Putin that he must remain in power and protect his alleged personal wealth.[5][6]
The term "Puting"
Belkovsky is said to have authored the journalistic cliché "Puting" (Путинг), derived from the name of Russia's president since 2000 Vladimir Putin, to denote the process of renationalisation of Russia's oil industry assets.[7]
References
- ↑ Blomfield, Adrian (December 21, 2007). "$40bn Putin 'is now Europe's richest man'". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved May 24, 2010.
- ↑ Атака на «ЮКОС» — тезис о пересмотре итогов приватизации прозвучал // Radio Liberty July 30, 2003
- ↑ Jonas Bernstein (November 19, 2007). "STANISLAV BELKOVSKY: PUTIN WILL LEAVE POWER COMPLETELY". The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 2007-11-21. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
- ↑ Quiring, Von Manfred (12 November 2007). "Warum Putin gar nicht Präsident bleiben will". Die Welt. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
- ↑ To enemies of Russia, commentary of Andrey Piontkovsky
- ↑ Станислав Белковский - злобный клоун на службе олигархов // Клиента выдоил… Затем подставил… И получилось так не случайно
- ↑ О.Виноградова. Путинг в действии
External links
- Stanislav Belkovsky's interview with Russia Today Russia Today June 1, 2007.
- Belkovsky's publications