An agent of influence: why did the Khodorkovsky-Rothschild Foundation hire a former NATO employee

The Future of Russia Foundation (formerly the Open Russia Foundation) was established by Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2002 in London. At the same time, the owner of Yukos made a base contribution of £ 10 million. Initially, in addition to Khodorkovsky, the fund’s board included former US ambassador to the USSR Arthur Hartman, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Lord Nathaniel Rothschild. Later, the foundation was renamed Future of Russia Foundation.

In May 2016, Nathaniel Rothschild resigned from the board, but continues to maintain control over the fund through SJP Trust Corporation Limited. As follows from the reporting documents, this is the Rothschild Trust Corporation, which is controlled by Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron of the Dynasty. The assets of the Future of Russia Foundation as of January 2018 were £ 14.5 million. The official goals of the foundation are charitable. These include the development of education in Russia and other Eastern European countries, support for talents, as well as educational, scientific and cultural projects.

While Mikhail Khodorkovsky was in custody, the fund practically did not give out grants, receiving a low (up to 3-5% per year) return on start-up capital - the endowment. Since 2013, when Khodorkovsky was released, the foundation began to issue grants of £ 100-200 thousand per year.

In 2016, the foundation issued a grant of £ 344,732 to the Institute of Contemporary Russia Pavel Khodorkovsky.

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Interestingly, in the report for 2017, the fund indicates the recipient of this grant (£ 344,732 in 2016) already some European Choices companies, while the Institute of Modern Russia does not appear in the documents. This suggests that European Choice firms may be laying firms for the Institute of Modern Russia and its projects. Companies with such a name are registered in France and in Estonia.

As follows from the documents of the Estonian European Choices, the company supports the activities of the public network movement “Open Russia” (in 2019 the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation refused to register the organization), and also possibly finances the Internet resource “Open Media” Khodorkovsky. Estonian European Choices and Open press OÜ, which is the founder of Open Media, have the same founder, the British company Hanover 16 Limited, which is owned by Mikhail Khodorkovsky. In 2017, the same European Choices became recipients of a grant from the Future of Russia Foundation of £ 300 thousand.

The board of the Future of Russia Foundation includes US citizen Maria Petina-Logan, who has been working as a lawyer in Khodorkovsky projects for more than ten years, and a British citizen, political scientist Vladimir Pastukhov. The Foundation did not make public statements about the appointment of John Lofa, but information about his inclusion on the board is reflected in the accounts.

In 1989–1995, Lof was a budding Soviet expert — teacher, and then senior lecturer at the Research Center for Sovietology (later - Conflictology) at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, United Kingdom. At NATO, Lof worked for six years (from 1995 to 2001). In the alliance, he managed information programs aimed at Central and Eastern Europe. In 1995, Lof became the first NATO officer to work in Russia on an ongoing basis. During these years, he spoke with the Russian press on behalf of the alliance, developing media campaigns for "a better understanding of NATO in Russian society." In 2003-2008, he worked in the oil company TNK-BP as an adviser on international relations.

It is also known that Lof is a participant in the project of the British special services Integrity Initiative. The goal of the project is to counteract the influence of the Russian Federation, in the fight against Russian “disinformation”. Integrity Initiative launched in 2015.

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Integrity Initiative is one of the key British influence programs aimed at Russia. The program was announced as part of measures to combat “Russian propaganda”, as well as “hybrid actions”, allegedly used by the Russian Federation. For these purposes, London allocates about £ 2 million per year. For the first time information about the presence of such a program was published by hackers of the Anonymous group in 2018, wrote RT. According to them, the UK could use its activities to interfere in the internal affairs of European countries and for the information war against Russia.

In its framework, Britain pays "opinion leaders" from European countries for anti-Russian statements. Such "opinion leaders" are called in the project documents "elves." In this, Lof is adjacent to William Browder and the colleague of Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Ashurkov.

Lof, for example, published a column in Time magazine stating that Russia, having allegedly attempted to assassinate Sergei Skripal, had humiliated Britain and is trying to determine the limits of what is possible in relations with London. Calling for tough actions against Russia, Lof refers to Leon Trotsky: "You might not be interested in you" ("You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you"). In a number of sources, this thesis is attributed to the number of false quotes by a revolutionary.

Political analyst and analyst Alexander Asafov is confident that the appearance of John Lof in the fund is not accidental.

“This organization spends not only Khodorkovsky’s money,” said RT Asafov. - Khodorkovsky is an operator who distributes finances in areas, having previously coordinated them with customers - Western foundations and representatives of the establishment, such as George Soros. The press repeatedly discussed the problem of the inefficiency of these spending. Therefore, it was decided to plant a representative of the customer, who will ensure that the money is used for its intended purpose, and not as is customary in the Russian non-systemic opposition — was plundered with reports that did not correspond to reality. The remaining board members are ideologues who must prepare an ideological justification for grants. This is not the logic of a public foundation, but a business unit that performs clear information tasks. ”

* Institute of Modern Russia ( Institute of Modern Russia) - an organization whose activities are recognized as undesirable in the territory of the Russian Federation by decision of the General Prosecutor's Office on 04/26/2017.

** The Public Network Movement “Open Russia” ( Open Russia Civic Movement, Open Russia) is an organization whose activities are considered undesirable in the territory of the Russian Federation by decision of the General Prosecutor's Office of 04/26/2017.