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Kremlin: Putin did not hold paid meetings with businessmen
Dmitry Peskov called untrue reports that French presidential candidate Francois Fillon organized a meeting for Lebanese billionaire Fouad Makhzoumi and Total CEO Patrick Puyanne with Russian President Vladimir Putin for a fee. Interfax reported on this.
Earlier, the media wrote that Fouad Makhzoumi, a Lebanese businessman, paid Francois Fillon $50 thousand for organizing a meeting with Putin and the CEO of French oil giant Total.
"We saw these media reports. To be honest, they remind us of …
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Russia cut financing of the Crimea by 1.5 billion rubles
On March 22nd, the Russian Parliament in the annexed Crimea approved amendments to the budget for 2017 which will reduce the revenues and expenditures of the peninsula’s budget by 1.55 billion rubles (27 million USD). The budget bill was published on the official website of the Crimean Parliament.
As reported by Kryminform, the Minister of Finance of the peninsula, Irina Kiviko, said during a committee meeting that "this amount is approved, less the receipts under the federal target program." …
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Security Service of Ukraine: Russian espionage ring was uncovered in Odessa
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and military counterintelligence announced the detention of several members of a Russian spy ring in Odessa, as reported by the press service of the SBU.
As counterintelligence states, the leader and coordinator of the group is a Ukrainian citizen. She was trained in the annexed Crimea, and participated in the events at Kulikovo Field on May 2, 2014.
"The detention of all active members of the group in Odessa was carried out during a transfer of important …
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Moldova discloses details of $22 billion money laundering case
Criminal cases were brought against a number of judges, bailiffs and employees of the National Bank of Moldova. Through a statement posted on their official website, the Prosecutor General's Office of Moldova described the details of an ongoing investigation about the laundering and removal of $22 billion from Russia.
According to the statement, charges were brought against 16 judges, four bailiffs, four employees of the National Bank of Moldova including the deputy head, as well as nine …
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Putin hopes for restored relationship with Germany
On March 22, at a meeting with BASF CEO Kurt Bock, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia still hopes to restore relations with Germany.
"We have not lost hope that we will be able to restore full-format cooperation," the President said.
He also noted that the latest developments in the economic sphere had a negative impact on the volumes of mutual trade. Putin said that according to the Eastern Committee of German economy, at least 150,000 Germans lost their jobs as a result of …