Evgeniy Prigozhin Syria. A company linked to Prigozhin has entered into an oil deal with Syria. Why did you decide to leave the service?

A week ago, special prosecutor Robert Mueller, who is investigating “Russian interference in the American presidential election,” accused a Russian businessman of illegal banking transactions and long-term management of “information warfare.” If the “troll factory” leaves the territory of the Russian Federation, an official request for extradition to America may await their trial here. In addition to producing "poisoned propaganda" for American voters, it is now reported that the "Kremlin chef" .

The Washington Post, citing sources in American intelligence, reported that the Russian authorities knew about the military offensive of the Syrian government group, which included employees of the Wagner PMC in the province of Deir ez-Zor on the night of February 7-8. It appears that American intelligence has access to Yevgeny Prigozhin’s correspondence. She claims that the businessman, who is associated with coordinating the actions of the Wagner PMC in Syria, was in close contact with the Kremlin and Syrian officials in the days and weeks before and after this battle.

On January 24, Prigozhin told a senior Syrian official that he had "received permission" from an unnamed Russian minister to move forward with a "quick and powerful" initiative in early February, and he was awaiting agreement from the Syrian government.

In a post on January 30, Prigozhin says he has a “good surprise” for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is “expecting him from February 6 to 9.”

Syrian Presidential Affairs Minister Muhammad Fadlallah Azzam promised Prigozhin fee for his work.

At the same time, American intelligence reports record an increase in the frequency of Prigozhin’s negotiations with officials from the Russian Presidential Administration during this period, including with the head of the administration Anton Vaino and his deputy Vladimir Ostrovenko. Conversations continued until February 5 and resumed immediately after the attack in Deir ez-Zor.

The question arises: are Russian oligarchs and senior officials really under CIA or NSA wiretapping? If yes, how long has this been going on?

And why weren’t they protected by our cyber-skills, who hack “everyone and everything”?! Or should we expect new denials from Moscow in the spirit of “you’re all lying”, “where is the evidence”?

US Defense Secretary James "Mad Dog" Mattis: The Russians said they weren't near the American base in Syria, and then we struck. Photo: Reuters

The Pentagon is sparing and reluctant to talk about it the first direct combat clash between Americans and Russians. Defense Secretary James Mattis and the head of Air Force Central Command, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, said that U.S. intelligence saw the mobilization of Syrian forces in the Deir ez-Zor area a week before February 7. The Americans warned the Russian side that if Assad’s forces launch an offensive against the base of US allies from the Syrian opposition near strategically important oil fields a few kilometers from the bank of the Euphrates, “they will be repulsed.”

According to Secretary Mattis, “the Russians said that they knew nothing about the upcoming offensive” and assured the American command that there were no Russians among the participants in this operation. In the attack on the base, where American military advisers were located at that moment, after appropriate artillery preparation, a detachment of 300 to 500 people took part. In response, there was a powerful airstrike that lasted three hours. After some time, the Russian military approached the Americans with a request to stop the bombing and allow the wounded to be carried away. “You’re not there, are you?” - the Americans answered. However, this is only the version in the media.

On the American side, the military prefers to remain silent about this clash; only a few details are known to the public.

At a Pentagon briefing on Feb. 8, U.S. Defense spokeswoman Dana White said coalition forces did not respond until artillery shells from the attackers fell within 1,640 feet (500 meters) of the headquarters of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). . Defense Secretary Mattis (nicknamed "Mad Dog") called the incident "baffling." The Pentagon chief noted, "I can give no explanation" for pro-government Syrian forces crossing the river and attacking a base of opposition and American forces.

Last Sunday, as the minister was returning from a tour of Europe, he was asked whether he believed the Russian government was responsible for its “mercenaries” fighting in Syria. The minister reacted diplomatically: “I prefer not to answer this question now, I need more information for a competent answer.”

A senior Trump administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the incident "disturbing." He added that he was surprised by “how quickly the Russians distanced themselves” from what he called “an operation under Syrian command and execution of Syrian orders.”

The American president did not comment on the incident in the province of Deir ez-Zor. However, on Friday, during a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the White House, Trump called the actions of Russia, Iran and the Syrian authorities a “humanitarian disgrace,” commenting primarily on the aggravation in the Eastern Ghouta region. According to him, Russia and Iran, which support Assad, are pursuing a destructive policy. “What these three countries have done to the people over the last period of time is a disgrace,” the US President declared.

The use of Wagner PMCs in military operations in Syria and other places seems to leave the Kremlin a “thin layer of non-involvement”

says Michael Carpenter, a former White House official who worked in the Obama administration: “More importantly, it allows Russian forces to attack the Syrian opposition, while the regular Russian military would not risk doing so for fear of escalation (with the US coalition).”

The American press quotes one of the former commanders of the Wagner PMC about how they are fighting for Assad in Syria:

“The Wagner fighters go first and do their job, then the Russian ground forces come and then the Arabs and the television cameras.”

According to Western media, there are 2.5 thousand Wagner PMC fighters in Syria, who are paid up to 300 thousand rubles a month. The Russian press cited much more modest figures.

According to Andrew Weiss, an expert at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington, Prigozhin has made himself “indispensable to the Kremlin”: “On the one hand, he is at the very tip of the spear, for example, when conducting information operations against America. On the other hand, it is deeply involved in the activities of the Ministry of Defense and provides military forces and other services."

American media remind that even before the Syrian events, Prigozhin and Wagner PMCs were included in US sanctions lists because of the Ukrainian events.

Prigozhin has been under sanctions since December 2016. Then the US Treasury noted the businessman’s “intensive ties” with the Russian Ministry of Defense and his involvement in the construction of a new military base on the border with Ukraine.

Wagner PMC, as well as the Prigozhin companies Concord Catering and Concord Management and Consulting, were blacklisted a little later - in June last year. And last month, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the company Evro Polis, which is associated with Prigozhin, because of Syria. The US Treasury called this firm “a Russian company that entered into a contract with the Syrian government to protect oil fields in exchange for a 25% share in oil and gas production from fields in territories retaken from ISIS” ( terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation). Most of these territories are located on the eastern bank of the Euphrates.

On the one hand, the Russian and American militaries in Syria have established and maintain almost daily telephone contacts in order to prevent accidental losses of troops and aircraft. By its silence, the Pentagon makes it clear that after the military demonstration, further comments are not needed.

On the other side,

if American intelligence leaks are true that the attack on the base was coordinated through Prigozhin “at the very top,” then we could be talking about a large-scale provocation. Much more dangerous than Russian aircraft flying over American warships and approaching aircraft.

What happened requires an explanation, which, however, we may never get - neither from Washington, nor even less so from Moscow.

Development applicant: Euro Policy LLC

According to SPARK-Interfax, Euro Policy LLC was created on July 13, 2016. It is registered in Krasnogorsk near Moscow at the address: Ilyinskoye Shosse, building 1. Until the beginning of 2017, the company did not conduct any significant activities: its authorized capital was 10 thousand rubles. The address at which it is registered coincides with the addresses of several dozen other companies.

In January 2017, retired police officer Oleg Erokhin, a former senior detective officer for particularly important cases in the operational search unit No. 1 of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for the North-Western Federal District, became the general director of Euro Policy LLC. Together with Hero of Russia Andrei Troshev, whom Fontanka previously named as one of the closest employees of the alleged head of the private military company Wagner, Dmitry Utkin, he was the founder of the League for the Protection of the Interests of Veterans of Local Wars and Military Conflicts. A photo of Troshev together with Utkin at a reception in the Kremlin in December 2016 was reported in the media, and Dmitry Peskov had to attend the alleged leadership of the PMC at the meeting with the president. According to Fontanka, Erokhin also communicates with Yevgeny Gulyaev, his former colleague and now the head of the security service of businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Dmitry Utkin (left) (Photo: screenshot of the Channel One story)

Andrey Troshev (Photo: screenshot of the “Russia 1” story)

In January 2017, CJSC Neva became the sole owner of Euro Policy LLC. It is headed by General Director Valery Chekalov, who is also the General Director and owner of Collective-Service LLC, registered in St. Petersburg. Fontanka indicates that the telephone numbers of Collective-Service LLC match the contacts of two dozen companies associated with Prigozhin.

The main codes of economic activity of Euro Policy LLC have also changed - from wholesale and retail trade to oil, gas and coal production, as well as drilling and other related types of production. Already in May 2017, the company’s authorized capital increased to 3 million rubles, the company opened and officially registered a branch in the capital of Syria, Damascus.

According to the publication, employees of Euro Policy LLC work in Syria as workers taking part in the restoration of oil production and as firefighters. “Working as firefighters, drivers and construction workers in Syria. The attitude towards people is bestial,” says an anonymous user on a website with reviews of employers.

If the memorandum signed in Moscow is or is already supported by a legally binding document, the Russian commercial company Euro Policy will likely undertake an obligation to conduct military operations on the territory of another country in the interests of the local government and state corporations, Fontanka notes.

Who will guard the deposits in Syria

Fontanka writes with reference to the general director of the private military consulting company RSB-Group, Oleg Krinitsyn, that the protection of deposits in Syria will probably also be handled by the Wagner PMC, which is believed to be led by Dmitry Utkin, who is familiar with the former owners of Euro LLC Polis" and the head of Prigozhin's security service, Evgeny Gulyaev.

According to Krinitsyn, “Utkin himself does not make such decisions” - he performs “technical work”, and decisions on planning and development of the company “are made at the top level.”

As RBC previously found out, Yevgeny Prigozhin participated in several tenders for the maintenance of the base of the Wagner Group - the prototype of a Russian private military company, which received its name from the call sign of its leader.

For example, according to RBC’s interlocutors in the FSB and a former fighter of the Wagner PMC, members of the group are training at a base in Molkino (Krasnodar Territory), where the forces of the 10th Separate Special Forces Brigade of the GRU of the Ministry of Defense are also located.

Firms related to the St. Petersburg restaurateur Prigozhin participated in several tenders for the maintenance of the base. These are the companies “Megaline” and “Teplosintez”. In addition, the company “Restaurantservice Plus” associated with him published advertisements about recruiting people to work in the canteen of the military unit in Molkino.

Evgeny Prigozhin (Photo: Mikhail Metzel / TASS)

Prigozhin invested money in the Wagner PMC with the expectation that, in addition to earnings from military operations, he would receive some dividends, a source at the PMC told RBC. According to him, the “main emphasis” was initially placed on Syrian oil.

“So far, Prigozhin is receiving large orders from the government [to carry out combat missions on the front line and protect important infrastructure]. Moreover, there [in Syria] the Syrian government has already signed a five-year contract with one of Prigozhin’s oil companies. A friend of mine works there,” the source told RBC. According to him, we are talking about deposits in the central part of Syria.

Another RBC source close to Wagner’s company also claims that Prigozhin was given oil rigs in Syria. “They are now looking for people to guard them,” he said.

In addition to oil fields, we are also talking about the “gas fields” of Palmyra - Shair, Hayan, Jizel, says a third RBC interlocutor from Prigozhin’s circle. “After Palmyra, in December 2016, they were captured by the Islamic State (an organization banned in Russia. — RBC). The PMC released them and took them for themselves,” says the interlocutor. According to him, there is a memorandum concluded with the Syrian Ministry of Oil (in December-January). “I don’t know the terms of this agreement, but we are talking about tens of millions of dollars a month,” the source said.

Officially, the press service of the Ministry of Energy refused to answer Fontanka’s request about the contents of the memorandum concluded between the Syrian side and Euro Policy LLC under the auspices of the Russian Ministry of Energy: “The contents of these documents are a corporate secret.” The publication was unable to obtain comments from the Syrian Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources, as well as a representative of Euro Policy LLC.

At the time of publication, a representative of Concord Management and Consulting, Evgeniy Prigozhin, did not respond to RBC’s request.

Business interests of Prigozhin's companies

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Concord M company supplies food products to the presidential administration. In addition, the businessman’s structures deliver food to military units and are engaged in servicing military camps from the Ministry of Defense, as well as uniforms for the Youth Army movement. The businessman is considered the organizer of the so-called troll factory, whose employees posted comments loyal to the authorities on social networks. RBC magazine about Prigozhin’s possible connection with the “media factory,” the recently emerged largest media holding.

The businessman and his companies are subject to US sanctions. As the US Treasury Department explained, the businessman has “extensive business ties with the Department of Defense,” and the company associated with him has a military base near the Ukrainian border.

Putin's cook, who has been making a living from theft and robbery since childhood, received a contract for 25% of Syrian oil

A company linked to billionaire Yevgeny Prigozhin, a St. Petersburg restaurateur and caterer for official Kremlin events, has received a contract for 25% of the oil and gas that will be produced in Syria in territory recaptured from militants.

The corresponding agreements were reached in December 2016 in Moscow during negotiations between the visit of the Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources of Syria, Ali Ganev, and the head of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, Alexander Novak.
The Fontanka publication reported this on Monday, citing a source in the ministry, and on Tuesday it was confirmed by RBC, citing people close to Prigozhin and the private military company Wagner, which he finances.

Legally binding agreements for a period of five years will be signed on the Russian side by Europolis LLC, which is headed by Valery Chekalov, who also serves as the general director of two dozen companies associated with Prigozhin.

Prigozhin, after serving 9 years for robbery, fraud, involving minors in prostitution, made a fortune in restaurants for the elite of St. Petersburg in the 1990s, and after Vladimir Putin came to power, he gained his trust and budget money began to flow. to the cook by river. Now it will have access to deposits in central Syria.

In addition to oil, we are also talking about the “gas fields” of Palmyra - Shair, Hayan, Jizel, says an interlocutor from Prigozhin’s entourage. “In December 2016, they were captured by the Islamic State (an organization banned in Russia). The PMC freed them and took them for themselves,” he said. According to him, there is a memorandum concluded with the Syrian Ministry of Oil. "We're talking tens of millions of dollars a month," the source said.

Prigozhin, who supplies food to the presidential administration and was called by Forbes “Putin’s personal chef,” invested money in the Wagner PMC with the expectation that, in addition to earnings from military operations, he would receive some dividends, another source told RBC. According to him, “the main emphasis” was initially placed on Syrian oil.

“So far, Prigozhin is receiving large orders from the government (to carry out combat missions on the front line and protect important infrastructure facilities). Moreover, there (in Syria), the Syrian government has already signed a five-year contract with one of Prigozhin’s oil companies,” said RBC’s interlocutor.

Prigozhin’s Concord M company supplies food to the presidential administration. In addition, the businessman’s structures deliver food to military units and schools, maintain military camps under a contract with the Ministry of Defense, and also sew uniforms for the Youth Army movement. Prigozhin is considered the organizer of the so-called “troll factory,” whose employees post comments loyal to the authorities on social networks.

A businessman and his companies are subject to

In return, a commercial company registered a year ago must free fields and factories from the Islamic State (banned in Russia).

The visit of Syrian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Ghanem, who visited Moscow in December 2016, passed without fanfare and went unnoticed by the Russian press. Only in March 2017, in an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyasa, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak reported on the negotiations: “As part of our last meeting with the Syrian Minister of Oil and Natural Resources Ali Ghanem (December 8, 2016), we substantively discussed the participation of a number of large Russian companies in oil and gas exploration and production projects on the territory of the Arab Republic with an emphasis on ensuring the safety of their activities there” (quote from the website of the Russian Ministry of Energy).

According to Fontanka, the results of the meeting are unprecedented and concern not so much energy resources as military-political issues. The agreements reached bring back practices from the times of Francis Drake and Cecil Rhodes.

Prigozhin started his business in the catering industry. He owns the restaurant “Old Customs” on Vasilievsky Island and several other restaurants, including a food outlet in the Government House. Yevgeny Prigozhin traditionally provides restaurant service at presidential events. The name of Yevgeny Prigozhin is associated with "Internet troll factory", and RBC journalists found that he controls the media holding with an audience of about 36 million people per month. According to Fontanka, people from Prigozhin’s security service are in close contact with the leadership of Wagner PMC.

At the same time, Euro Policy LLC is changing the main codes of economic activity. There was wholesale and retail trade in various products and warehouse activities. Oil, gas, coal production, drilling and other related types of production appear.

In May 2017, the authorized capital of the LLC increases from 10 thousand to 3 million rubles, the company opens and officially registers a branch in the Syrian Arab Republic, the city of Damascus.

War is business

Until 2017, the so-called Wagner PMC, as far as Fontanka knows, was not registered as a legal entity and did not formally exist. There were no legal or pseudo-legal grounds for the activities of Russian PMCs, either in Russia or in Syria.

If the memorandum signed in Moscow is supported or already supported by a legally binding document, then Euro Policy - a Russian commercial company - will apparently undertake an obligation to conduct military operations on the territory of another country in the interests of the local government and state corporations. This goes far beyond the usual boundaries of the use of private military and security companies in world practice.

New in activity: Euro Policy employees, according to Fontanka, work in oil and gas production not only with weapons in their hands. It is likely that some Russian citizens are sent from Euro Policy to Syria as workers taking part in the restoration of oil production and as firefighters. Fires at oil and gas wells, especially in combat conditions, often occur in the Palmyra fields. Numerous evidence of this can be found on the official Facebook of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. The nationality of the firefighters is not visible in the photographs.

In certain circles, the interest of PMCs in the oil fields of Palmyra is no secret. The general director of the private military consulting company RSB-Group, Oleg Krinitsyn, heard that the “Utkin-Wagner volunteer group” also plans to protect oil fields: “It is clear that Utkin himself does not make such decisions. Everything is planned from above, it is clear that it is not Utkin who signs the contracts. He performs technical work, and planning for the development of the company and its advancement is naturally taken at the top level. I believe this is good practice. People work, invest money, nothing unusual. War is a business."

[IA "RBC", 06/27/2017, "Prigozhin's structures are interested in developing fields in Syria": As RBC previously found out, Evgeny Prigozhin participated in several tenders for the maintenance of the base of the so-called "Wagner Group" - a prototype of a Russian private military company (PMC), which got its name from the call sign of its leader.
For example, according to RBC’s interlocutors in the FSB and a former fighter of the Wagner PMC, members of the group are training at a base in Molkino (Krasnodar Territory), where the forces of the 10th separate special forces brigade of the GRU of the Ministry of Defense are also located.
Several tenders for the maintenance of the base included companies related to the St. Petersburg restaurateur Evgeny Prigozhin: these are the companies Megaline and Teplosintez. In addition, the company “Restaurantservice Plus”, associated with Prigozhin, published advertisements about recruiting people to work in the canteen of the military unit in Molkino.
Prigozhin invested money in the Wagner PMC with the expectation that, in addition to earnings from military operations, he would receive some dividends, a source at the Wagner PMC told RBC. According to him, the “main emphasis” was initially placed on Syrian oil.
“So far, Prigozhin is receiving large orders from the government [to carry out combat missions on the front line and protect important infrastructure facilities - RBC]. Moreover, there [in Syria] the Syrian government has already signed a five-year contract with one of Prigozhin’s oil companies. A friend of mine works there,” said RBC’s interlocutor. According to him, we are talking about deposits in the central part of Syria.
Another RBC source close to the Wagner company also claims that Prigozhin was given oil rigs in Syria. “Now they are looking for people to protect them,” he said.
In addition to oil fields, we are also talking about the “gas fields” of Palmyra: Shair, Hayan, Jizel, says a third RBC interlocutor from Prigozhin’s circle.
“After Palmyra in December 2016, they were captured by the Islamic State [banned in Russia]. The PMC released them and took them for themselves,” says the interlocutor. […] “I don’t know the terms of this agreement, but we are talking about tens of millions of dollars a month,” he said. - Insert K.ru]

Price in barrels and dollars

The economic meaning of the campaign cannot be accurately calculated. As Mikhail Krutikhin, an oil and gas analyst and partner at RusEnergy, explained to Fontanka, without knowing which specific fields and plants may fall under the agreement, it will not be possible to give a profit forecast. “From a practical point of view, the possibility of organizing exports in Syria raises great doubts. How will delivery be carried out? You don't mess with cars. Well, without knowing production volumes, it is impossible to carry out a more or less accurate analysis,” says the expert.

Fontanka estimated a less accurate analysis using a calculator. As Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Ghanem told the People's Assembly, as of February 2017, 3 thousand barrels of oil, 6.6 million cubic meters of natural gas and no more than 40 thousand cubic meters of liquefied natural gas were produced daily in Syria.

On May 25, 2017, on the website alwatan.sy, Ghanem gives other figures: daily light oil production of 8 thousand barrels (with plans to increase to 12 thousand barrels per day) and daily gas production of 9 million cubic meters (plans - 11.5 million cubic meters) .

Maybe not all fields controlled by Bashar al-Assad are protected by Euro Policy, but the number of liberated oil and gas fields has increased by June. If we take world oil and gas prices as a basis, subtract 10 to 15 percent of the government's normal share and divide by four, the monthly benefit from the Syrian war is unlikely to be more than $100 million. Let us remind you that expenses for military operations are reimbursed as a separate line item.

The oil and gas region around Palmyra is the backbone of the Syrian economy. Oil and gas near Palmyra in northeastern Syria were discovered in the 20s of the 20th century. By the 90s, the Syrian side signed contracts for oil and gas exploration with 12 foreign companies (Shell-LF-Total, Rathon, Tolo, etc.) on an area of 71 thousand square meters. km. Subsequently, INA, Devon Energy, Petro-Canada, IPR, Tatneft, HBS, DNOS, Stratk joined the Syrian Oil Company.

Proven reserves amount to about 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 241 billion cubic meters of gas. The historical maximum oil production - 677 thousand barrels per day - was achieved in 2002.

In 2011, after the outbreak of the internal Syrian conflict, the United States and the European Council of the EU introduced a complete ban on the import or transportation of Syrian oil, after which foreign companies, under threat of sanctions, stopped operating in Syria.

How to hide behind ISIS Hunters

A funny coincidence: since the beginning of 2017, the Syrian army’s special unit “ISIS Hunters” has appeared in the information space. Allegedly, it was prepared by Russian instructors, and its main task coincides with the contractual obligations of Euro Policy LLC: the liberation, protection and defense of oil fields near Palmyra. Since March 2017, “ISIS Hunters” have been constantly present in the reports of the Federal News Agency (FAN) and other media outlets, which, as RBC showed, are part of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s media holding.

In photos and videos, soldiers of the unit appear, as a rule, with their faces covered; sometimes soldiers with a characteristic Arab appearance are visible. Propaganda videos of combat successes attributed to ISIS Hunters are frequently published. But sometimes there are blunders that show who is really fighting for gas fields under a loud brand.

For example, this video was posted on Twitter by ISIS Hunters, and then published by FAN on March 1, 2017 under the title “Palmyra: results of the second day of the assault on the ancient capital.” The report described the military achievements of the “hunters.”

Some time later, a video appeared on the Internet, apparently showing the same place at the same time. The filming is carried out with a video camera, apparently attached to the fighter’s helmet. He walks with a machine gun and shoots wounded enemies - presumably members of ISIS.

“Friends, don’t shoot! Two more “spirits” are here! I see you, I’m finishing them off!” - speech is heard against the background of radio traffic in Russian. You can see how the filmer’s friend approaches the corpse, turns it over, and reveals his face.

Invisible Stroytransgaz

Another agreement, according to the Syrian side, was signed with Stroytransgaz JSC, which is considered the property of Gennady Timchenko, a businessman known for his closeness to Vladimir Putin.

Judging by open sources, Stroytransgaz has been present in Syria since 2000, the main project is the construction of the South Middle Area gas pipeline with a length of 319 kilometers with gas treatment facilities, as well as the construction of infrastructure facilities at several fields. On the company's website, the last mentions of Syria are dated June 2012, they relate to the construction of a gas processing plant 75 kilometers from Raqqa. Today, even the contacts of the STG branch in Damascus have disappeared from the site.

It was all the more surprising to come across a recent mention of Stroytransgaz on the website of the General Fund of Geological and Mineral Resources of Syria (a division of the Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources). According to the director of the fund, Stroytransgaz signed a contract on December 8, 2016 (coinciding with Minister Ganem’s visit to Moscow), the subject of the contract being services for the protection, production and transportation of gas. The work, as can be judged from the publication on the official website of the fund, was supposed to begin on June 3, 2017.

Fontanka has no other evidence of the start of STG’s work in the warring Arab republic. The company's press service has not yet responded to our request. The known phone numbers for the Damascus branch are silent. One of the STG engineers who previously worked in Syria answered Fontanka’s questions that he left Homs because “there is fighting there.”

The answer from the press service of the Ministry of Energy is the same as in the memorandum with Euro Policy: “corporate secret.”

Silence of the parties

Fontanka asked interested parties whether the memorandum had become a legally binding document? Judging by the registration of the branch of Euro Policy LLC in Damascus and reviews on the Internet, the work is in full swing.

At the time of publication, no response had been received from the Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources of Syria, and there was no response to the request on the website of the “electronic government” of Syria.

The mobile phone of Oleg Erokhin, General Director of Euro Policy LLC, is disabled; the company does not have a publicly accessible phone number or email address. Erokhin did not respond to Fontanka’s appeal on the social network. We considered sending a letter by Russian Post to Krasnogorsk too naive a step.

The press service of the Russian Ministry of Energy keeps “corporate secrets.” Believing that the signing of a document providing for the participation of Russian citizens who are not military personnel in military operations abroad goes far beyond the scope of “corporate secrets,” we hope that the department will reconsider its position.

The corresponding agreements were reached in December 2016 in Moscow during the visit of Syrian Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources Ali Ganev with the head of the Russian Ministry of Energy Alexander Novak.

The Fontanka publication reported this on Monday, citing a source in the ministry, and on Tuesday it was confirmed by RBC, citing people close to Prigozhin and the private military company Wagner, which he finances.

As a result, Prigozhin, who made his fortune in restaurants for the elite of St. Petersburg in the 1990s, and after Vladimir Putin came to power, signed a government contract to supply the Ministry of Defense for 100 billion rubles, will gain access to deposits in central Syria, sources told RBC.

“So far, Prigozhin is receiving large orders from the government (to carry out combat missions on the front line and protect important infrastructure facilities). Moreover, there (in Syria) the Syrian government has already signed a five-year contract with one of Prigozhin’s oil companies,” said RBC’s interlocutor.

The businessman and his companies are subject to US sanctions. As the US Treasury explained, Prigozhin has “extensive business ties with the Department of Defense,” and a company associated with him is building a military base near the Ukrainian border.