Ozero cooperative

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Group.png Ozero cooperative  
(Russia/deep state faction)Rdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
Formation1996
HeadquartersWinter Palace Panorama 3.jpg Saint Petersburg,  Russia
Membership• VladimirPutin.jpg Vladimir Putin
•  Arkady Rotenberg
•  Boris Rotenberg
•  Andrei Fursenko
•  Sergey Fursenko
•  Yury Kovalchuk
•  Viktor Myachin
•  Nikolai Shamalov
•  Vladimir Smirnov
•  Vladimir Yakunin
The most prominent and powerful deep state faction in Russia.

Dacha consumer cooperative "Ozero"[1] is a dacha cooperative in northwest Russia associated with Vladimir Putin's inner circle.[2][3][4]

History

The dacha cooperative Ozero (Eng: 'Lake') was founded on November 10, 1996[1] by Vladimir Smirnov (head), Vladimir Putin,[5][6] Vladimir Yakunin, Andrei Fursenko, Sergey Fursenko, Yury Kovalchuk, Viktor Myachin, and Nikolay Shamalov.[7] The society united their dachas in Solovyovka, Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast, on the eastern shore on the southeast of Lake Komsomolskoye on the Karelian Isthmus, near Saint Petersburg, Russia.[8][9]

Vladimir Putin returned from his KGB posting in Dresden in early 1990, prior to the formal establishment of the Ozero cooperative, and acquired property on the banks of Lake Komsomolskoye. His dacha burned down in 1996 but was rebuilt later that year.[5] Others bought more land around this area and built a number of villas close to each other to form a gated community.[10] A bank account linked to this cooperative association was opened, allowing money to be deposited and used by all account holders in accordance with the Russian law on cooperatives.[11]

By 2012, members of the Ozero cooperative had assumed top positions in Russian government and business and become very successful financially.[8][12][13]

Ozero members

The table includes alleged net worth or annual compensation[10][11][14][15]

Ozero member Full or Partial Ownership, Board Memberships, Directorships as of 2014 Alleged Net Worth or annual compensation
Andrei Fursenko Center for Strategic Research Northwest, Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (2004–2012), Aide to the President of the Russian Federation (2012–present), Honorary Consul to Bangladesh in St Petersburg Unknown
Sergey Fursenko Lentransgaz subsidiary of Gazprom, Gasprom Gas-Motor Fuel, president of National Media Group, president of the Russian Football Union (2010–2012) Unknown
Yury Kovalchuk Bank Rossiya and its subsidiaries (e.g. co-owner of National Media Group), Center for Strategic Research Northwest, Honorary Consul to Thailand in St Petersburg $1.4b net worth
Viktor Myachin former Director-General of Bank Rossiya (1995–1998, 1999–2004), CEO of the investment company "Abros", a subsidiary of Rossiya Bank (2004–present): This investment company owns 51% of the Согаз, a big insurance company in Russia Unknown
Vladimir Putin President of Russia
Nikolai Shamalov Vyborg Shipyard, Bank Rossiya, Gazprombank $500m net worth
Arkady Rotenberg He is co-owner (with his brother Boris of the SGM (StroyGazMontazh) group, the largest construction company for gas pipelines and electrical power supply lines in Russia. $3.5 billion
Boris Rotenberg He is co-owner Arkady of the SGM (StroyGazMontazh) group, the largest construction company for gas pipelines and electrical power supply lines in Russia. $1.07 billion
Vladimir Smirnov Techsnabexport (2002–2007) Unknown
Vladimir Yakunin deputy minister of transport (2000–present), president of Russian Railways (2005–2015) $15m annual salary

Security

Purportedly the firm Rif-Security provides security for the Ozero Dacha Community. Rif-Security is controlled by the alleged boss of the Tambov Gang Vladimir Barsukov (Kumarin) and Vladimir Smirnov.[11][12]

Political effect

Some observers hint that the roots of Putin's power may lie in Ozero camaraderie.[5]After Anatoly Sobchak's 1996 electoral loss to Vladimir Yakovlev, a rival of Putin's in the St Petersburg mayor's office, Putin found work in Moscow and, in 1998, became the head of the Federal Security Service. Ozero gained tremendously, restoring St Petersburgers above Moscovites in Russian society.

The Ozero cooperative society holds a bank account at the Leningrad Oblast Bank. The financial transactions of the Ozero cooperative are unknown. By law any of the members would be able to deposit and withdraw funds for his own use. Karen Dawisha, director of the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies at Miami University, concluded that "in Russia a cooperative arrangement is another way for Putin to avoid being given money directly, while enjoying the wealth shared among co-owners".[11]

Putin. Corruption, a report published by the opposition People's Freedom Party, is about the alleged corruption in Vladimir Putin's inner circle and has a chapter about Ozero.[12]



 

Known member

1 of the 10 of the members already have pages here:

MemberDescription
Vladimir PutinPresident of Russia, Russian deep politician.
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References

  1. a b https://web.archive.org/web/20160304050120/http://www.novayagazeta.ru/politics/49409.html
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20220122214450/https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/28/europe/vladimir-putins-inner-circle/index.html
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303123421/http://www.compromat.ru/page_9539.htm
  4. https://slavlandchronicles.substack.com/p/russias-not-so-deep-state
  5. a b c https://web.archive.org/web/20190802074828/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/02/how-the-1980s-explains-vladimir-putin/273135/
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20130601213659/http://www.novayagazeta.ru/society/11232.html
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20180127084816/https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/mumin-shakirov/who-was-mister-putin-interview-with-boris-nemtsov
  8. a b https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215742/http://www.anticompromat.org/oligarhi/ppo.html
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20170824084233/http://lib.ru/HISTORY/FELSHTINSKY/naslednik.txt
  10. a b https://web.archive.org/web/20121111070627/http://sobesednik.ru/incident/sobes_35_10_dacha
  11. a b c d Dawisha, Karen (2014). Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?. Simon & Schuster. pp. 97, 98, 165, 338. ISBN 978-1-4767-9519-5.
  12. a b c https://web.archive.org/web/20160219040339/http://www.putin-itogi.ru/putin-corruption-an-independent-white-paper/
  13. https://web.archive.org/web/20150207152258/http://news.liga.net/articles/politics/1066761-blizhniy_krug_putina_kto_popal_v_novyy_spisok_sanktsiy_ssha.htm
  14. https://web.archive.org/web/20160213074539/http://sobesednik.ru/rassledovanie/20160113-kto-teper-zhivet-na-dache-putina-v-kooperative-ozero
  15. https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/20160403-putin-russia-offshore-network/#:~:text=The%20men%20formed%20a%20co%2Doperative%20society%20to,which%20was%20called%20called%20Ozero%20(the%20Lake).
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