Dossier Center translation: French connection
What does the fund associated with the daughter of the press secretary of the President of Russia do?
Dossier Center translation
April 11, 2023
The daughter of the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, Elizaveta, decided to respond to the accusations of French and Russian journalists of nepotism and said that a high-profile surname is not a privilege, but a heavy burden. She also complained about living in Paris for 700 euros a month and spoke about the success of her Foundation for the Development of Russian-French Historical Initiatives. Not as much is known about his work as about Peskova herself. The Dossier Center tells what this organization does and how another business of the daughter of Putin's press secretary gets multimillion-dollar government contracts.
At the end of March, the Layout publication noticed that Centrum Moscow, partly owned by Peskova, increased its revenue by almost 70 times in 2022 - from 2 million to 137 million rubles through government contracts.
The French TV channel LCI dedicated a 16-minute story to Peskova and other children of the Russian elite. It said that the daughter of Putin's press secretary had lived in Paris for a long time in a luxury apartment in the prestigious 16th arrondissement and that after the outbreak of the war, she continued to visit France.
Then Peskova herself recorded in French and posted an appeal to the LCI editors on Instagram banned in Russia, expressing doubts about their professional suitability. Soon a Russian text also appeared, although it was greatly curtailed. Peskova said that a high-profile surname is not a privilege, but a heavy burden; that five years ago she returned to Moscow, graduated from MGIMO, and now she works hard and makes good money; that she loves Paris very much, but once she happened to live there on only 700 euros a month - “and this despite the fact that she is Peskov’s daughter” (just the phrase about 700 euros and love for Paris fell out of the Russian translation).
Challenging French journalists, Peskova did not mention Centrum Moscow with its government contracts, but proudly described her other place of work - the Foundation for the Development of Russian-French Historical Initiatives (FRRFII). “In cooperation with Pierre Malinowski, we were able to return to France [the remains of] General Gudin, who now rests next to Napoleon in Les Invalides. How many people do you know who is doing something like this now?” Peskova asked the LCI editors a rhetorical question.
The message of the speech of the daughter of Putin's press secretary was that she is a self-sufficient person, whose activities are not connected to her father, and France should be grateful for her work. The Dossier Center decided to study what this fund actually does and how it works. From the materials at the disposal of the Dossier, it follows that the fund is supported by companies close to the Russian state and odious politicians such as deputy Leonid Slutsky, its founder Pierre Malinovsky is close to the Orthodox oligarch and propagandist Konstantin Malofeev, and Peskov Sr. attends the events of the fund and in every possible way supports him. The activities of the FRRFII look like an attempt to use “soft power” to influence French politicians, although without much success.
What is FRRFII
“Between the countries [Russia and France] there are always new questions for controversy, and in the meantime, we have created a new bridge between these countries, a new way of relations,” said Pierre Malinowski at the end of January 2023 in an interview with Alexei Venediktov.
Pierre Malinowski is 35 years old, he is a citizen of France, he managed to serve in the army for eight years (and six months in the Foreign Legion), and also worked as an assistant to the famous right-wing politician Jean-Marie Le Pen. Since at least 2014, he has sought to build rapport with the Russian elite, according to Dossier's email correspondence. In this, he was assisted by Zurab Chavchavadze, at that time the director of the Moscow charitable foundation of St. Basil the Great and the gymnasium of St. Basil the Great. Both projects were financed by the "Orthodox oligarch" and the creator of "Tsargrad" Konstantin Malofeev.
It follows from the correspondence that in 2014 Malinowski and Chavchavadze discussed a joint dinner with Gerard Depardieu, and at the same time Malinowski complained that he wanted to ask for an accompanying actor at a meeting with Putin, but nothing came of it. On another occasion, the Frenchman asked Chavchavadze to arrange a conversation with Malofeev about various projects, including the Franco-Russian fund of the Expeditionary Force. We are talking about part of the Russian army that fought in the First World War in France.
In 2016, Malinowski tried to contact high-ranking representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church. He found a field in France where, as he writes, 6,000 Russian tsarist soldiers were killed or went missing. In the village of Kursi, not far from this field, Malinovsky organized an exhibition, which by that time had been visited by the then Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Medinsky. In a letter, the Frenchman asks Chavchavadze if it is possible to arrange for Patriarch Kirill or Bishop Tikhon [Shevkunov] to come to consecrate this field. In response, Chavchavadze explains that first, you need to make an official invitation to the patriarch and that, in general, such trips are the prerogative of Metropolitan Hilarion (in the letter he is called the “Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Church”), and it is necessary to explain why a particular representative of the Russian Orthodox Church is invited. After some time, Chavchavadze did indeed write directly to Tikhon, whom he refers to as “you”, and spoke about Malinovsky, the excavations, and his invitation. But Tikhon, judging by further correspondence, was not interested in this idea.
At the end of 2018, Malinowski's undertakings took shape on paper - he registered the FRRFII in Moscow. Maria Katasonova, an activist of the National Liberation Movement, became the vice president of the foundation, but she worked in Malinowski's organization for only a year. The opening event was attended by Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov.
Shortly after the opening, Malinowski sent out to big businessmen and famous people - the "Dossier" has copies of letters to Vladimir Potanin, Gennady Timchenko, Leonid Mikhelson, Viktor Rashnikov, as well as the rector of MGIMO Anatoly Torkunov - information about the fund and a proposal for financial participation. Among the sponsors of the FRRFII, the site lists the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company of Iskandar Makhmudov, other partners are government agencies, including the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Culture, and the presidential administration.
However, not all sponsors are listed on the site. The Dossier has an agreement dated July 2020 between the FRRFII and the Russian Peace Fund, politician Leonid Slutsky, who donated 800 thousand rubles to the Malinowski project. The head of the LDPR faction in the State Duma, Slutsky, known for the scandal of harassment of journalists, is the chairman of the State Duma committee on international affairs.
The FRRFII budget in 2019 and 2020 did not exceed 15.5 million rubles, but in 2021 it grew to more than 30 million. According to the Ministry of Justice, Russian and foreign commercial organizations transfer money.
From time to time, stories about FRRFII initiatives flashed in the French media. The main thing, of course, was the very reburial of the remains of General Guden, about which Elizaveta Peskova spoke with pride.
Etienne Guden - one of the closest associates of Napoleon, who died in 1812 near Smolensk. For a long time, his grave was considered lost. In 2019, a group of archaeologists, together with Malinowski, exploring the alleged burial of the French military in one of the parks of Smolensk, discovered a one-legged skeleton. Genetic examination confirmed that it belongs to Guden. In 2021, the general's remains were ceremonially buried near Napoleon's tomb at Les Invalides in Paris. The leading French media wrote about this event - the newspaper Le Figaro, for example, noted that the French authorities resisted this initiative. The fact is that Malinowski has a controversial reputation due to his closeness to both the Kremlin and far-right French circles, the newspaper wrote. Le Figaro assessed the story of the reburial of the Napoleonic general as an attempt to carry out a diplomatic coup and bring Moscow closer to Paris.
However, FRRFII cannot boast of other high-profile events. Malinowski, if he appears in the media, then on Russian propaganda channels. On the foundation's website, its creator boasts that he has demonstrated "his work" to President Vladimir Putin four times. A simple figure speaks of an interest in his person and his activities: Malinovsky's interview with Alexei Venediktov on the FRRFII YouTube channel was watched 24 times, and the channel itself has seven subscribers.
The modest successes of the foundation do not prevent Malinowski from living in a big way. In his Instagram, photos from the laying of flowers on Mamaev Kurgan alternate with breathtaking views from Dubai hotels and restaurants. The Moscow apartment of the Frenchman, judging by the photos on social networks and merged databases, is located on Tverskaya Street opposite the city hall. In July last year, Malinowski received Russian citizenship by a special decree of the President of Russia.
Elizaveta Peskova is listed on the foundation's official website as Vice President. What she specifically does in this organization, is not possible to establish from open sources.
What is Centrum Moscow
Peskov's daughter, in her video message, did not comment on the revenue of her Centrum Moscow (Centrum Moscow LLC). At the end of 2021, together with a certain Evgeny Litvinov, she bought this company, 30% was owned by Elizabeth, and 70% belongs to her partner.
Immediately after the transaction, the scale of Centrum Moscow's activities increased dramatically, which was noticed by the Nestka publication. If under the previous owners in 2021 the company received about 2 million rubles in revenue and almost 1 million losses, then in 2022 - 137 million in revenue and almost 25 million in net profit. The company’s website says that it organizes exhibition spaces and, for example, prepared an exposition of the “Made in Russia” project for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2022. Other clients include the Moscow Government, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Federal Agency for Fisheries, and the Moscow Export Center.
It is very likely that this business is entirely the concern of Peskova's business partner Evgeny Litvinov, who is clearly not a novice in the exhibition business. So, in the mid-2010s, Litvinov was one of the key employees of the Great Group, a company that has been dealing with exhibition stands since 2006. On the site (now inactive) he was listed as a “project manager”, and in notebooks as “Evgeny Standy,” “Evgeny Vystavka,” and as the technical director of the Great Group.
Evgeny Litvinov's personal connections, and not just the name of Elizaveta Peskova, could also help to get generous customers for Centrum Moscow. For at least five users, he was also recorded as “Evgeny Minselkhoz” or “Evgeny Standy Minselkhoz VEF”, that is, he had previously worked on exhibitions for the Ministry of Agriculture, or at least discussed such work. The same ministry has now become a client of Centrum Moscow.
In addition, when registering the car with the traffic police, Litvinov indicated not his number, but the phone number of a certain Anna Bolotova. Judging by the entries in the phone books, this is Litvinov's wife or close friend. Bolotova previously worked in the Moscow government, as well as in the Moscow Export Center, and now both the mayor's office and the Moscow Export Center have become clients of Centrum Moscow.
Yevgeny Litvinov read the questions of the Dossier Center about Peskova and the exhibition business sent to him via Telegram but did not answer anything.