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Russia

Aleksey Navalny: Russian Political Dissident Picked For Aeroflot Board

Navalny's home was ransacked by police barely two weeks ago, and he spent 15 days in jail in May. So why did the government support his appointment to the board of Aeroflot, Russia's largest airline?

Aleksey Navalny at a protest in Moscow (Mitya Aleshkovskiy)
Aleksey Navalny at a protest in Moscow (Mitya Aleshkovskiy)
Aleksandr Panchenko

MOSCOW - Political blogger and activist Aleksey Navalny joined the board of Russia's largest airline, Aeroflot, this week.

Navalny has been one of the driving forces behind the protest marches against Vladimir Putin and his party, and has been arrested several times in the last few months. Early June, his apartment and office were extensively searched by police, in connection with an investigation into the clashes between protesters and police during the May 6 protest. He is well known as a political blogger and anti-corruption activist, but has never held a high-level position at a public company.

Navalny's candidacy was backed by Aleksander Lebedev, the outspoken head of a large Russian bank that owns 15 percent of Aeroflot. He also had the support of 70 percent of the stockholders, including the Russian Federal Property Management Agency. Support from the state agency is only possible with the support of the Russian government.

Navalny became one of 11 members the Aeroflot board. Russia's largest airline had $4 billion in revenue and 312 million profits in 2011. Last year, members of the board of directors received compensation of around $500,000 each.

Lebedev explained that the company needed to improve the efficiency of its corporate procedures. He said that he considers Navalny a very effective worker, and that he would be valuable to the company as a board member: "He will act on behalf of all stockholders, as well as the government stockholders."

On Twitter, Navalny wrote: "Fly Aeroflot." He also said that he would do "as usual, protect the rights of minority shareholders and the company's interests." He stressed that he had been supported by two international consulting groups who provide minority stakeholders with voting recommendations.

Read the original article in Russian

Photo - Mitya Aleshkovskiy

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Economy

Lex Tusk? How Poland’s Controversial "Russian Influence" Law Will Subvert Democracy

The new “lex Tusk” includes language about companies and their management. But is this likely to be a fair investigation into breaking sanctions on Russia, or a political witch-hunt in the business sphere?

Photo of President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Piotr Miaczynski, Leszek Kostrzewski

-Analysis-

WARSAW — Poland’s new Commission for investigating Russian influence, which President Andrzej Duda signed into law on Monday, will be able to summon representatives of any company for inquiry. It has sparked a major controversy in Polish politics, as political opponents of the government warn that the Commission has been given near absolute power to investigate and punish any citizen, business or organization.

And opposition politicians are expected to be high on the list of would-be suspects, starting with Donald Tusk, who is challenging the ruling PiS government to return to the presidency next fall. For that reason, it has been sardonically dubbed: Lex Tusk.

University of Warsaw law professor Michal Romanowski notes that the interests of any firm can be considered favorable to Russia. “These are instruments which the likes of Putin and Orban would not be ashamed of," Romanowski said.

The law on the Commission for examining Russian influences has "atomic" prerogatives sewn into it. Nine members of the Commission with the rank of secretary of state will be able to summon virtually anyone, with the powers of severe punishment.

Under the new law, these Commissioners will become arbiters of nearly absolute power, and will be able to use the resources of nearly any organ of the state, including the secret services, in order to demand access to every available document. They will be able to prosecute people for acts which were not prohibited at the time they were committed.

Their prerogatives are broader than that of the President or the Prime Minister, wider than those of any court. And there is virtually no oversight over their actions.

Nobody can feel safe. This includes companies, their management, lawyers, journalists, and trade unionists.

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