The money of the Russian charity Fund go towards funding American lobbyists.
A week before the start of the competition in Rio De Janeiro the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee decided not to suspend the national team of Russia from the 2016 Olympics as a whole, passing, with some significant reservations that the law of international federations of Olympic sports. In particular, caught doping athletes from Russia, road to Rio is closed without any exceptions.
After the triumphant victory of Russia at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the Russians believe in the revival of Russian sport, but the exposure and doping scandals actually put Russian sports bureaucracy and the leadership of the country to the brink of a reputational disaster: a complete denial of the problem and ignoring the consequences could endanger the continued participation of the Russian team at the Olympics in Rio. It would be strange to assume that to improve the international image of the Russian sports will not be undertaken substantial efforts. For example, not so long ago Pspradio to equate common performance enhancing drugs to drugs, and the head of sport Vitaly Mutko publicly fending off allegations and reports about anti-doping before UNESCO.
Apparently, Russia has a more subtle diplomatic tools to whiten the reputation of its athletes.
Olympic lottery
Significant funds for the organization of the Moscow Olympics in 1980 were collected through the organization of the state lottery. In 2009, before the winter Olympics in Sochi, the Russian Government released a decree on holding national lotteries. The only operator of state lotteries was sold to OOO “Sportloto”, which received the exclusive right to use Olympic symbols and became an official partner of the Olympics.
The lottery company Sportloto” was in the capital at the Volgograd Prospekt, business-center “Avilon Plaza”. Adjacent rooms with the most famous Russian lottery operator take other lottery brands, operators of state lotteries, “Gosloto” and “Orglot”. There is located the office of the company “Finmac”, which is under a different name also had the attitude of “Gosloto”. This company was issued a ticket gosloterei, which was made by the Ministry of sport, tourism and youth policy of Russia. In addition to the commercial lottery organizations, “Avilon Plaza” was a Charity Fund to support health, education, physical culture and sport “sport Top” (Top Sport), founded “Finmac”. It is known that only in the second quarter of 2013, OOO Gosloto” viplachivau more than ten million rubles in the form of contributions. We could not find any website of the organization or meaningful report on the expenditure of these funds. Posted on the website of the Ministry of justice reports, the organization said that from 2012 to 2015 inclusive, it has received over 161 million rubles from commercial organizations.
The Creator of “the pinnacle of the sport is JSC “Trading House “Stoloto”, exoosed on the website of the trading house. Among the achievements of the Fund is indicated, investment in the construction of sports facilities, charitable assistance to the Special Olympic Committee of Saint-Petersburg, all-Russian Union of fans, the Russian fans at the world Cup in Brazil in 2014.
Anti-doping management
The name of this charitable organization in the English interpretation (Top Sport Charity Foundation), with the same registration address in Moscow also appears rather strange for the Russian charity funds. The organization recorded as a principal, hiring an American lobbying company to promote its own interests in the USA and is listed in the registry of foreign agents FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act). Judging by available on the website of FARA act, the Fund “sport Top” hired known in the United States public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, the number of clients which includes a Corporation, Facebook, IBM and Ford. The company is engaged in lobbying and providing relevant services to the governments of Cyprus, Taiwan, Qatar and Greece. In 1991, the company entered the Russian market, “to explain to the Russians that this privatization”.
Based on the enclosed documents, the amount of the contract between Burson-Marsteller and Top Sport Charity Foundation in one month (may) was $70 000. The American PR firm was supposed to advise the Foundation on a number of issues relating to building a communications and media lighting information associated with the participation of Russia at the summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
It should be said that the partners Burson-Marsteller affiliated with US political leaders. For example, a former Director of the company, mark Penn Mark Penn, who also held the position of Vice-President of Microsoft Corporation, he worked as chief specialist for strategic planning at the headquarters of Hillary Clinton during previous presidential campaigns. Former COO of Burson-Marsteller Peter Kelly Peter G. Kelly, a long time held a post of the Deputy of the Democratic party at local, regional and Federal level. Moreover, at the end of may, it was reported that the transnational communications holding WWP LLC, which owns Burson-Marsteller, also has a direct connection with the team of Democrats that support the campaign of Hillary Clinton.
It can be assumed that the efforts of Burson-Marsteller has paid off: the United States Olympic Committee upheld the decision of the IOC concerning Russian athletes. At today’s opening of the Olympic games in Rio De Janeiro and is present in our team, even shorthanded. Apparently, the money to close the interests of Hillary Clinton’s American lobbyists wasn’t completely in vain.
