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Occam’s razor is generally stated in layman’s terms as …
"the simplest explanation is usually the correct one"
So let’s get “simple”.
Fact 1) Russia’s state-owned Oil Company abruptly sold 19% of its shares last December, and not even its own Board of Directors knew about the sale ahead of time.
by Katya Golubkova, Dmitry Zhdannikov And Stephen Jewkes, Reuters — Feb 24, 2017
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According to a source close to Rosneft's management board, the deal came as a surprise to Rosneft's shareholders, including Britain's BP, which itself owns 19.75 per cent of Rosneft and is represented on its board.
The Rosneft board learnt about the sale from [Igor] Sechin himself only on December 7, several hours after Sechin recorded his televised meeting with Putin announcing it, the source said.
In response to questions from Reuters, BP said: "Matters of the board of directors are confidential".
Two sources in the Russian government said the deal was also a surprise there: it had been agreed between Sechin and Putin's Kremlin, above the cabinet. "Sechin did it all on his own - the government did not take part in this," one of the sources said.
Fact 2) Russian sources say this surprise sell-off of Rosneft shares, was arranged by the Kremilin and Rosneft’s CEO Igor Sechin.
Fact 3) The Sanctions against Russia are materially preventing Rosneft from expanding its Oil extraction operations.
Sanctions will thwart Rosneft’s ambitions to join the ranks of oil’s superpowers
The Economist — Aug 2nd 2014
THE close bond between Igor Sechin, Rosneft’s boss, and Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, can work both ways. His seat in Mr Putin’s inner circle brings rebuke. Mr Sechin is on an American blacklist, and Rosneft is barred from seeking longer-term finance from American banks, over Russia’s behaviour in Ukraine. [...]
However, the TNK-BP deal brought more than just oil. The 20% stake in Rosneft that BP got as part of the transaction was a means of importing a supermajor’s management and engineering skills. They are sorely needed. Production has peaked at Rosneft’s older fields and will start to decline in a couple of years. To keep the barrels rolling it needs oil from reservoirs that are far more difficult to tap.
The latest sanctions are intended to stop it. Aside from its joint venture with BP, the Russian firm plans others with Exxon, Statoil and ENI of Italy to drill in the Arctic as well as other offshore fields, and to exploit Russian shale oil. Like most national oil companies, Rosneft lacks the experience and know-how to operate in the extreme conditions of the Arctic and other harsh locations. [...]
Fact 4) The Steele Dossier reports that Igor Sechin made a quid-pro-quo deal, with then Trump Campaign representative Carter Page; a deal which involved a 19% stake in Rosneft [Quid] in exchange for the lifting of Sanctions [Quo].
by Natasha Bertrand, Business Insider — Jan. 27, 2017
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“[Igor] Sechin's associate said that the Rosneft president was so keen to lift personal and corporate western sanctions imposed on the company, that he offered [Carter] Page and his associates the brokerage of up to a 19 per cent (privatised) stake in Rosneft," the dossier said. "In return, Page had expressed interest and confirmed that were Trump elected US president, then sanctions on Russia would be lifted."
Fact 5) About a month after Donald Trump was elected President, a complex set of Shell Companies were created, in order that 19% of the shares in Rosneft could be funneled to yet-to-be disclosed new owners of Rosneft.
We have heard a lot in the last few days and weeks about the Russia hacking and involvement in the 2016 election.
by Don Guy, dailyfunnel.com — Feb 17, 2017
Here is a timeline we have pieced together that raises the questions.
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December 5 – QHG Holding created. One partner is QHG Cayman Limited registered in the Cayman islands.
December 7 and 8 – Russia Announces a sale of 19.5% of the state owned oil company, Rosneft to Glencore and Qatar Investment Authority. However, contributions by both don’t seem to equate to the amount of sale (only about 300 million Euro) It is impossible to find all the owners for 10.2 bn Euros8, however, Russia and Rosneft benefit from the lifting of sanctions by accessing the market for oil, including drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Also, there is a benefit from Russia having the Ukraine as most gas pipelines from Russia to the rest of Europe go through the Ukraine9.
December 8 – Carter Page visits Moscow10 to “meet with business leaders and thought leaders” including “top managers of Rosneft”11.
Fact 6) Mere days after the transaction of these 19% shares of Rosneft took place, Carter Page was once again back in Moscow and meeting with the top managers of Rosneft, according to Russian sources.
Fact 7) Those Quid-pro Shares ultimately ended up in an anonymous Cayman Islands Company account: QHG Shares — where the owners’ anonymity (and tax shelter benefits), are guaranteed by Cayman law.
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RUSSIAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS IN THE NEWS, JANUARY, 2017
sras.org, The School of Russian and Asian Studies — 5.2.2017
Rosneft Privatization Deal Raises New Questions
Recent investigations into the money trail left by the recent purchase of 19.5% of Russian oil giant Rosneft raises questions regarding the actual buyers. Although the deal was presented late last year as a joint purchase between the Swiss conglomerate Glencore and the Qatari Investment Authority, public records reveal a large portion of the financing was funneled through a complex web of shell companies. Ultimately, the trail leads to a company registered in Singapore, QHG Shares, which acted as a lynchpin for the money transfers. QHG Shares, however, is partially owned by a London-based company, QHG Investments, who in turn also manage a Cayman Islands subsidiary called QHG Cayman Limited. Curiously, this latter company is not only listed as one of the purchasers in the Rosneft deal, but the identities of the owners of QHG Cayman Limited are protected from public inquiry by Cayman law. Stranger still, of the 10.2 billion Euros price tag attached to the Rosneft sale, 2.2 billion has not been accounted for by the investigation.
All else being equal, it appears the American People have simply been had, by a desperate, and cunning, and conniving bevy of Russian deal-makers. That would be the simplest explanation if the above facts were to be taken at face value.
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Only problem is, the promised wealth of all the participants involved [the Quid and the Quo parts], hinges on the innate skill and abilities of Donald Trump (or
his Representatives) to
actually GET the Sanctions against Russia lifted, without raising any alarming suspicions —
Doh!
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