Aleksei Navalny
21 July 2020
Aleksei Navalny created his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) nine years ago. FBK has angered oligarchs and officials alike with his blistering investigations and exposing corruption in Russia.
FBK last year lost an $1.2 million defamation lawsuit filed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Kremlin insider, after FBK accused his catering firm of serving meals at Moscow schools that caused a bout of food poisoning. Now FBK will be owned by Prigozhin. Currently FBK is supported by 7,607 sponsors who donate money on a monthly basis. Navalny does not want this money to get into the hand of Prigozhin. To avoid that he will wind up FBK and start a new Anti-Corruption platform to carry on his work.
During its nine years of existence, the FBK has produced dozens of detailed investigative videos on oligarchs, government officials, executives at state-owned companies, and their friends and relatives.
Here are the five most popular videos produced by the FBK.
Medvedev’s Mansions
The 50-minute video “Don’t Call Him Dima” explored the wealth of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The video was by far the most popular one and it garnered 35 million views. FBK team exposed the business empire secretly owned by Medvedev through non-profit organizations, including mansions, yachts, and vineyards.
The Prosecutor And His Sons
FBK’s second-most popular investigation, with 12 million views, focuses on Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika and his family. The 43-minute film, released in December 2015, accuses Chaika’s two sons of using the cover of their father’s subordinates to illegally enrich themselves.
The FBK alleged that Chaika’s family and senior officials in the Prosecutor-General’s Office had business ties to a notorious gang that for years terrorized a small town in southern Russia. The gang’s leaders were convicted of murdering 12 people, including four children, in 2010.The film alleges that Artyom Chaika, who is a permanent resident of Switzerland, illegally privatized industrial facilities and businesses in Russia that has allowed him to purchase a luxurious hotel in Greece and a villa in Switzerland.
The Oligarch And The Sex Teacher
An FBK investigation titled Yachts, Oligarchs, Girls: A Man Hunter Exposes A Bribe Taker follows the social-media posts of self-proclaimed Belarusian sex trainer Anastasia Vashukevich – aka Nastya Rybka – to connect Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska to one of country’s top foreign-policy officials. The video, which uses Vashukevich’s posts, appears to show the then-Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodko being offered lavish treatment on Deripaska’s yacht in 2016. The video garnered more than 11 million views.
Putin’s Hideaway
The Secret Dacha of Putin, released in August 2017, alleges that the Russian president uses a venerable country house on a Russian island near the Finnish border for holidays.
The 50-hectare property, located on the islet of Lodochny, not far from the city of Vyborg, in a bay north of the Gulf of Finland, is home to several buildings and a helicopter landing pad. This video, which has more than 10 million views. According to this video the property belongs to Oleg Rudnov, a Putin confidant from St. Petersburg who headed a company called the Baltic Media Group.
Mishustin’s Money
The film is about new prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin who replaced Medvedev. He previously oversaw Russia’s federal tax agency. He owns property in and around Moscow valued at $40 million despite the fact that he has largely worked for the government his whole life. The video has been viewed more than 9 million times.
RadioFree Europe reported.
