“A Russian citizen was detained in Washington Maria Butina, the US Department of Justice said in a statement. The authorities accuse her of acting in the interests of Russia and of working for a Russian official who is under US sanctions,” RBC reports.
This is the message that took second place search engines on the Internet after the news about the meeting of the Russian President Vladimir Putin And Donald Trump, somewhat darkened the already damaged Russian-American relations.
The Russian official who appears in the RBC report and for whom Maria Butina is accused of working in the United States - Alexander Torshin.
Torshin and Butina. Don't you really know each other?
Here's what the telegram channel wrote about this “Ustinov is trolling”:
Butina's arrest. The media write that it was financed by Alexander Torshin.
In fact, everything is much more complicated. Torshin is associated with outright crime. Although he tries to be quite close to Putin (that’s how he positions himself), in reality they have no contacts.
If they had listened to me in advance regarding Torshin, then the current scandal surrounding the meeting with Trump could have been avoided.
Alexander Torshin: “We have long arms”
Before moving to America, Butina worked as an assistant to Federation Council member Alexander Torshin, who is now deputy chairman of the Central Bank. He and Butina could run a common business. Our publication.
Since 2011, Butina has been the founder and member of the public organization “Right to Arms,” which advocates for easing legislation on carrying firearms. Torshin was also a member of this movement. According to SPARK, the "Right to Arms" was excluded from the single state register legal entities. A representative of the organization clarified that it continues to exist as a public organization.
It’s interesting, but I wrote and analyzed a lot about Alexander Torshin on the telegram channel “Ustinov is trolling”:
Evil tongues insist that Torshin is one of the authors of the information attack on Nabiullina.
At the same time, it is forgotten that Torshin is a former senator from the Republic of Mari El, where he helped... yes, yes... that same Governor Markelov, who is the creator of an organized crime group like Governor Gaiser...
A number of sources even have the opinion that Torshin became one of the classified witnesses in the Markelov organized crime group case, but at any moment he could be qualified as a participant...
The only thing that now “protects” Torshin from criminal prosecution is claims against him from foreign law enforcement agencies (Bloomberg wrote about secret report The Spanish prosecutor's office, Torshin never filed a lawsuit against the publication).
Interestingly, quite serious sources are of the opinion that searches at Torshin’s place could show approximately the same picture as recently during searches at the head of Rostekhnadzor.
For a short amount of time, it seemed that Torshin, who has obvious criminal connections and a corresponding background, was trying in every possible way not to fall under sanctions and, for this purpose, was flirting with American arms manufacturers, promising them, among other things, significant contracts from Russia. However, the following later became clear.
“Calm down, Nabiullina is on the closed lists. As well as her deputy Alexander Torshin.
Torshin appears in the FBI counterintelligence case and is therefore listed on other lists.
The case concerns the transfer of money by Torshin to the States Rifle Association, which also financed the Trump campaign.
The closed part of the list is closed because it concerns the work of the US intelligence network (Russian security forces), as well as internal affairs in the states (Trump campaign),” summarizes the telegram channel “Ustinov Trolls”
What did Butina do?
The US Department of Justice accuses Butina of “infiltrating organizations that have influence on American politics in order to promote the interests of Russian Federation", says a statement on the department's website. Butina acted together with a Russian official, whose name was not named in the materials of the US Department of Justice. However, they indicate that he worked in the legislative branch, and then moved to a high position in the Russian Central Bank. According to Reuters and Washington Post, we're talking about about Alexandra Torshina.
The Ministry of Justice cited three episodes in which Butina appears as examples. The names of people and the names of organizations with which she worked are not reported in the materials of the Ministry of Justice. On March 14, 2016, Butina sent an email to an American citizen to “develop a relationship with him to achieve her goals,” the indictment says. In August 2016, Butina entered the United States on a student visa. She declared her intention to study in the District of Columbia and continued to be an agent of Russian influence, it is stated there. In September 2016, according to the indictment, she wrote an email to a US citizen because she wanted to organize an event where she could influence the views of US officials.
As the Ministry of Justice noted, if upon arrival in the United States Butina was going to engage in lobbying, she first had to notify about it Attorney General. The charges are brought under Title 18, Parts 951 and 371 USC. Section 371 describes “a conspiracy to commit a crime or to defraud the United States.” The maximum penalty is five years' imprisonment, and a fine is also possible. Section 951 concerns the work of “agents of foreign governments.” It states that persons working in the United States under the control of foreign governments are required to notify the US Attorney General of their activities (the rule does not apply to diplomats). For violation of this requirement, the maximum penalty is ten years in prison or a fine (possibly both). This article appeared after the passage of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) in 1938.
The FBI took part in the investigation of Butina’s activities, which gained access to her correspondence and the contents of her phone. In the report of FBI special agent Kevin Helson, attached to the indictment against Butina, she is credited with complicity in creating a secret channel of communication between the elites of the Republican Party and the Russian leadership. Allegedly, while studying at one of the universities in Washington from 2015 to 2017, Butina acted as a Kremlin agent of influence. It is indicated that she received instructions from a high-ranking Russian official, whose name has not been disclosed.
In June 2015, a few days before Donald Trump announced his candidacy, Butina published an article in the conservative publication National Interest "The Bear and the Elephant"(the elephant is a symbol of the Republican Party). In it, she stated that in order to improve relations between the United States and Russia, it is necessary to elect a Republican president (the text was noted, in particular, by the Russian agency RIA Novosti).
A month later, Butina found herself at an event with Trump in Las Vegas. There she managed to ask the future president whether, if he wins, he intends to continue the policy of sanctions against Russia. Trump replied that “knows Putin and gets along with him” and opposes sanctions. As reported in The Daily Beast, in November 2016 - shortly after Donald Trump won the presidential election - Butina threw a costume party in Washington in honor of her birthday, attended by Trump campaign staff and Paul Erickson.
Special Agent Helson also says in his report that Butina took part in the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington in 2016. With an unnamed Russian official in the indictment, Butina allegedly discussed the possibility of organizing Russian President Vladimir Putin's participation in the National Prayer Breakfast in 2017. The prayer breakfast is held in February in Washington, DC, and is attended by several hundred people, usually addressed by the President of the United States.
“The funny past of a bandit from Mari El”
In 2011, Torshin began to actively lobby the interests of tobacco producers. He criticized the anti-smoking bill developed by the Ministry of Health and social development RF, as allegedly overly strict, restricting human rights to smoke. Following this, Torshin took the side of the beer lobby, becoming a supporter of low excise taxes on beer and promoting the idea that increasing beer consumption would combat the consumption of vodka.
For some time, Alexander Porfiryevich’s sphere of interests included the chemical industry, which was far from his education as a lawyer and psychologist, and from his specialized work in the highest legislative body of government. For example, when there was a fierce struggle for control over the Volgograd JSC "Khimprom", Torshin also did not stand aside - he actively promoted the candidacy of Yuri Batrin for the post of general director of the enterprise. His appointment then, by a very fortunate “coincidence,” was sought by Viktor Vekselberg’s Renova.
The senator also “became famous” for speaking out against the resignation of the ex-Minister of Internal Affairs of Tatarstan Asgat Safarov, when his employees raped a man to death at the Dalniy police station, which caused a wide resonance in society and raised the issue of large-scale violations in the ranks of the police.
In 2012, Torshin became involved in solving the problems of Russian orphans. Children from orphanages Far East and the Far North, he proposed relocating... to the families of residents North Caucasus. And he put first place not the interests of children, but economic aspects, “failing to see” the extreme cynicism of his initiative. At the same time, Torshin proposed to “kill two birds with one stone”: “to create new jobs in the Caucasus and save on the maintenance of orphans.” According to the senator, the implementation of this measure will relieve the authorities of the need to build and maintain child care institutions. He even presented his own calculation: “ this project will allow the authorities to save on the maintenance of one orphanage pupil from 300 thousand to 1 million rubles.” In addition, in his opinion, “the program will have a positive impact on interethnic relations, because orphans will be brought up in the best mountain traditions and will learn local languages.” But who will these Russian children become in the Caucasus? Torshin does not care about their fate. Torshin’s “children’s” project aroused sharp criticism: sending children to places where every other day there are explosions, shots are heard, and where not every adult decides to go, no one in Russia thought was the right idea.
But here is one of his last high-profile projects, which turned into a scandalous failure and smacks of nothing less than extremism. In the summer of 2012, Alexander Torshin prepared a bill allowing citizens to store and use short-barreled firearms in order to increase public safety. His statements are amazing and frightening:
“Weapons discipline. The atmosphere in our society will change, because people will not engage in lawlessness, including law enforcement agencies. And before doing anything, a person will think. Look at America - everyone there is smiling. It’s paradoxical, but our society will become kinder,” Torshin said at the presentation of an expert report on reforming Russian weapons legislation.
And now “good” America has added Torshin to the sanctions list and arrested Maria Butina, perhaps one of the closest people to Alexander Torshin. But Ustinov warned him...
The regulator's press service reported this on Friday. “State Secretary - Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia Alexander Porfirievich Torshin is leaving his post due to retirement,” the press release says.
Alexander Torshin was born in 1953. He graduated from the All-Union Legal Correspondence Institute (VYUZI), worked in the Soviet Association of Political Sciences, and in the office of the President of the USSR.
In 1995-98, he also served as deputy head of the Central Bank. Subsequently he went to work in, being authorized representative government. He was also previously Deputy General Director of the ARKO Group of Companies (Restructuring Agency credit institutions, predecessor).
From 2001 to 2015 - member of the Federation Council from the Republic of Mari-El. In 2002, he was elected deputy chairman of the Federation Council, then first deputy chairman.
He led the parliamentary commission investigating the hostage-taking by terrorists at school No. 1 in the North Ossetian city of Beslan in 2004. The report of the Torshin commission removed the blame for the deaths of the hostages from the representatives of the law enforcement agencies who stormed the building.
At the same time, the report noted that Ingushetia, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic and structural divisions jointly with other authorities, preventive, organizational, security and other measures were not actually carried out to promptly identify and suppress the criminal activities of gangs and terrorist groups.
The official returned to the Bank of Russia in 2015. At the Central Bank, his responsibilities included interaction between the regulator and Federal Assembly, government and regional authorities.
In particular, at the time of the appointment of Alexander Torshin to the post in 2015, the head of the Central Bank referred to “extensive experience in the public service.”
The publication's sources claimed that Torshin sent an email to one of the people in his entourage with a proposal to hold the said meeting. This message was also sent to other close associates of the businessman.
“For the past 12 years, I have attended the Presidential Prayer Breakfast each year as a private citizen, including attending the 2017 Prayer Breakfast while on official leave. I also never received an offer of a meeting from President Trump."
- said the response of the deputy chairman of the Central Bank, which quotes.
Torshin emphasized that he, as Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, is not responsible for international activities Bank of Russia and has never represented the Central Bank in official contacts with representatives of foreign states and international organizations.
Gazeta.Ru was unable to obtain an immediate comment from the Bank of Russia in connection with the resignation of Alexander Torshin.
The Finam analyst credits Torshin with the fact that, despite the difficult foreign policy situation, he managed to prevent panic in the market, and even after two waves of ruble devaluation, our fellow citizens bring money to banks in Russian currency. The collapse of large banks also did not undermine confidence in the system.
“Also, lately there has been no active confrontation with governors and the Central Bank. Torshin’s task was precisely to ensure that regional authorities did not interfere with the clearing banking sector, which Elvira Nabiullina began to engage in, this most likely was not always easy to do,” the analyst comments.
ALL PHOTOS
Torshin was not charged or summoned to court based on the report. The deputy chairman of the Central Bank denies his guilt and claims that his connections with the alleged leader of the Taganskaya organized crime group in Spain, Alexander Romanov, were purely social in nature.
RIA Novosti / Vladimir Fedorenko
Former first vice-speaker of the Federation Council Alexander Torshin, before his appointment as deputy chairman of the Bank of Russia in January 2015, managed the money flows of the mafia in Moscow. Bloomberg reports this with reference to investigation data in Spain. The press service of the Central Bank stated that the publication of the American agency has no basis.
While occupying a position in the Federation Council, Torshin gave instructions to members of the Taganskaya organized crime group based in Moscow. The senator oversaw the laundering of illicit proceeds through Spanish banks and real estate. This is stated in a confidential report from the Spanish Civil Guard, which was seen by Bloomberg, following a three-year investigation that ended in 2013.
The report states that “within the hierarchical structure of the organization, as is known, Russian politician Alexander Porfiryevich Torshin stands above Romanov (the alleged leader of the Taganskaya organized crime group, Alexander Romanov. - Note website), who calls him " godfather" or "boss" and conducts "transactions and investments" on his behalf.
Romanov was sentenced to almost four years in a Spanish prison in May this year after pleading guilty to illegal transactions in the amount of 1.65 million euros and 50 thousand dollars. From 2000 to 2005, Romanov was the general director of the Kristall plant. Then he was taken into custody in Moscow on charges of fraud and sentenced to three and a half years. After serving his sentence, Romanov left for Spain. At the end of 2013, he was arrested on the island of Mallorca during a police operation called Dirieba, which was coordinated by Europol.
Torshin was not charged or summoned to court based on the report. The deputy chairman of the Central Bank denies his guilt and claims that his connections with the alleged leader of the Taganskaya organized crime group in Spain, Alexander Romanov, were purely social in nature.
However, a senior Spanish official told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity that prosecuting Torshin is not worth the effort because Russia will not cooperate in cases involving representatives of the highest circles of power. The press services of the Civil Guard and the Spanish Prosecutor's Office did not respond to the agency's requests for comment.
The accusations against Torshin are based on information from him telephone conversations with Romanov in 2012 and 2013, as well as on information from documents seized during a search in the mansion of the alleged leader of the Taganskaya organized crime group in Mallorca. Romanov's lawyer did not respond to the agency's request to comment on the report of the Spanish Civil Guard.
According to a Bloomberg article translated by InoPressa, documents found in the Romanov mansion are related to raider takeover shopping center"Moscow Department Store" in 2009. From these papers it follows that Torshin used his position in the Federation Council to ask law enforcement agencies to intervene in the proceedings of the Taganskaya organized crime group with the overthrown management of the store, while taking the side of the criminals. In an interview with Bloomberg, Torshin said that responding to the request for help was part of his work in the Federation Council.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Torshin said that he met Romanov in the early 1990s, when he served as deputy chairman of the Central Bank, as he does now. Romanov also worked at the bank, but in a lower position. According to Torshin, he maintained contact with Romanov, but had not spoken to him since the former general director of the Kristall plant was arrested in Spain. " Last time we spoke on November 27, 2013, my 60th birthday. He called to congratulate me on my birthday,” said the deputy chairman of the Central Bank. “I am a public person and I don’t hide anywhere,” Torshin noted.
Sergei Aleksashenko, who served as first deputy chairman of the board of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation from 1995 to 1998 (that is, one of Torshin’s former bosses), believes that Torshin could return to the Bank of Russia to his old position at the direction of the FSB. Since 2013, Aleksashenko has lived in the USA. He is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. The Central Bank told the agency that Torshin was hired to the position of deputy chairman by the Chairman of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, for her political foresight.
Torshin also said in an interview with Bloomberg that he has connections in the United States. In particular, he is a member of the National Rifle Organization. The former senator said he met with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and in May had lunch with the billionaire's son Donald Trump Jr. at the gun lobby's annual convention in Louisville, Kentucky. The office of Trump and the National Rifle Association did not comment on this data.
The press service of the Central Bank stated that Bloomberg’s publication about the mention of Torshin in the materials of the Spanish police has no basis. “Neither the Bank of Russia nor Alexander Torshin were ever officially acquainted with the materials of Spanish law enforcement agencies referred to by Bloomberg. Neither the Spanish prosecutor’s office nor representatives of any other authorities ever contacted Alexander Torshin regarding this investigation,” the statement noted. Bank of Russia (quote from TASS).
Spain has been investigating the activities of the “Russian mafia” since 2008. According to Spanish investigators, the criminal network also includes the highest echelons Russian authorities. In May of this year, the National College of Spain issued an arrest warrant for 12 Russians, among whom were people from the close circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It is worth noting that Romanov’s imprisonment did not stop the activities of the “Russian mafia” in Spain. In June, Spanish police detained eight people suspected of laundering money for two organized crime groups from Russia - Taganskaya and Tambov-Malyshevskaya, which is also involved in the investigation. As a result of a police raid in Catalonia, 142 bank accounts were frozen and 191 properties were seized.
Brief biography of Torshin
Alexander Torshin was born on November 27, 1953 in the village of Mitoga, Ust-Bolsheretsk district, Kamchatka region. Graduated from the All-Union Correspondence Institute of Law, Faculty of Psychology, Moscow State University. M. V. Lomonosov. Candidate legal sciences, assistant professor; worked as a teacher and associate professor at the Academy of Social Sciences under the CPSU Central Committee.
In 1990-1991, he worked as an employee of the department for relations with socio-political organizations of the CPSU Central Committee apparatus, as well as in the apparatus of the President of the USSR. In 1993-1995 he worked in the apparatus of the Council of Ministers - the government of the Russian Federation. After that, he became State Secretary of the Central Bank of Russia.
In 1998-1999, Torshin became the plenipotentiary representative of the Russian government in State Duma Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation with the rank of deputy head of the government apparatus. In the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, before being elected deputy chairman, he was a member of the budget committee, tax policy, financial and customs regulation, banking. In 2008, Alexander Torshin became the first deputy chairman of the chamber.
In 2006, Torshin found himself at the center of a scandal related to a report investigating the causes and circumstances of the terrorist attack in Beslan. As a result of the analysis of the report, it turned out that some parts of Torshin’s speech were literally rewritten from the investigation materials in criminal case N20/849, initiated by the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation on the terrorist attack in Beslan school, although the parliamentary commission should conduct its own investigation of the terrorist attack, based on its materials and documents, and be independent of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, its investigation and conclusions. Torshin rejected accusations of plagiarism, assuring that the parliamentary commission did not have access to materials from the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Few Russian politicians have worked in so many areas civil service as Alexander Torshin. The biography of this man is a kind of manual for novice officials. Although it cannot be said that he did not encounter serious career troubles along his life path. Nevertheless, in most cases, Alexander Porfirievich Torshin successfully dealt with them. Biography, dirt on him, personal life, as well as the awards and achievements of this person will be the subject of our study.
early years
Torshin Alexander Porfirievich was born into the family of Porfiry Torshin in November 1953 in the village of Mitoga, which was located in the Ust-Bolsharetsky district, in the Kamchatka region.
After graduating from school in 1973, he was drafted into the ranks Soviet army for urgent service. Having been demobilized from the armed forces, he entered the military service in 1975. correspondence form to the VYUZI Law Institute, where he successfully completed his studies in 1978.
Working in the public service
In the same 1978, Alexander Torshin got a job at the prosecutor's office of the RSFSR. Here he proved himself to be very good. In this regard, Torshin was invited to work at the Soviet Association of Political Sciences. Then he went to work at the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences, and, finally, at the Academy of Sciences under the CPSU Central Committee and the Presidential Administration, which at that time was M. S. Gorbachev.
In the early 90s, significant changes occurred in the country: Soviet Union collapsed, a course was proclaimed towards building a model of a market economy and democratizing society. These events, naturally, were reflected in the career of Torshin, who by that time already held prominent government positions.
Career in the 90s
Since 1992, Alexander Torshin worked in the Government Office, holding the position of deputy in the department for interaction with parliament and organizations. But already in 1993, he began to occupy a similar post in another department - for interaction with the chambers of the Federal Assembly. He was soon promoted to the position of manager. Torshin worked in this department until 1995.
Then, from 1995 to 1998, he went to work as State Secretary of the Central Bank. At the same time, Alexander Torshin holds the post of deputy head of this organization. He left the Central Bank of Russia in 1998, as he returned to work in the government, from which he became a representative in the State Duma. Until 1999, Torshin also held the post of deputy head of the Government Staff. After this, he goes to work for the state company ARCO, where he is state secretary and deputy director. He worked in this position until 2001.
In 2001, Alexander Torshin became a member of the Federation Council from the Republic of Mari-El. The biography of this person is associated with this post for a long time, until 2015. A year later he becomes deputy chairman of the Federation Council, that is, the second person in this collegial body. His primary task in this position was to organize interaction with the authorities of the North Caucasus and Volga regions. federal districts, as well as with various public and religious organizations. Alexander Porfirievich was also a member of the Regulations Committee of the Federation Council.
The most famous legislative projects proposed by Torshin are a proposal to reduce excise taxes on beer and critical reviews of the anti-tobacco law. In 2011, he also proposed a bill that would allow Constitutional Court Russia blocked the verdicts of the European Court, for which he was condemned by opposition forces and human rights activists.
In the fall of 2004, Alexander Torshin became a member of the pro-government United Russia party.
Investigation of the terrorist attack in Beslan
Also in 2004, Torshin, as part of his work in the Federation Council, was assigned to head the commission to investigate the tragedy in Beslan. Its tasks were not only to find those responsible for large quantities victims as a result of the terrorist attack, but also to develop steps to prevent similar incidents in the future.
During the investigation, the commission took testimony from senior federal and regional officials, including Alexander Dzasokhov, Mikhail Fradkov and In addition, Alexander Torshin traveled with the commission to the territory of the republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Federal Commission During the investigation, she interacted with the commission of the North Ossetian parliament, which also carried out similar actions.
The investigation was completed in 2006, and the commission's findings received a rather mixed assessment in society. The report was delayed for a long time until it was published at the end of the year. Among the names of the organizers and customers of the terrorist attacks were Shamil Basayeva, Akhmad Maskhadov and the terrorist Abu-Dzeit. At the same time, there was not a word about the officials and civil servants who allowed the Beslan tragedy to happen in the commission’s conclusions. This is the main factor due to which the work of the commission was subjected to sharp criticism from the public.
Working as part of observer delegations
As part of his duties under the Federation Council, Alexander Porfirievich participated in the work of numerous delegations of election observers in Russia and abroad.
Thus, he was part of a delegation sent to Ukraine in 2004, whose task was to monitor the integrity of the next elections for the post of president of the country. He later stated that although there were some irregularities during the second round, they were not to the extent that they could significantly affect the results of the vote, which resulted in the winner being Viktor Yanukovych. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian opposition demanded re-elections, during which Viktor Yushchenko won.
In 2005, Torshin was already an observer from the Federation Council for the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Chechnya. According to him, there were no violations, and the voting conditions were close to ideal.
In 2006, Alexander Porfiryevich was part of a group of observers of the elections to the Verkhovna Rada in Ukraine, but this time he represented not the Federation Council, but the CIS states. The commission identified a number of shortcomings related to the electoral lists.
In 2008, Torshin became the head of the parliamentary commission to investigate the tragic events in South Ossetia that same year, which resulted in hostilities. He was one of those people who demanded the convening of an international tribunal on this event.
In the fall of 2008, Alexander Porfiryevich was elected to the restored position of first vice-speaker of the Federation Council, which had previously been abolished.
In 2011, the Speaker of the Federation Council S. Mironov was recalled by the body that delegated him to the Federation Council. For this reason, the position of acting speaker, according to the regulations, was assigned to Alexander Torshin. He held this post from May to September 2011, when Valentina Matvienko was elected to the post of head of the Federation Council.
In 2012, Alexander Porfirievich was appointed deputy chairman of the meeting of the Union of Russia and Belarus S.E. Naryshkin, while remaining a member of the Federation Council from the Republic of Mari-El.
Return to the Central Bank
The new place of work where Alexander Porfirievich Torshin got a job is the Central Bank of Russia. It was there that he left the Federation Council at the beginning of 2015. What kind of work does Alexander Torshin do there? The Central Bank of the Russian Federation needed him as Deputy Chairman and Secretary of State. Actually, he performed these duties during previous work at the Central Bank in 1995 -1998.
In addition, Alexander Porfirievich Torshin became responsible for interaction with executive authorities and the Federal Assembly. The Central Bank is where he works to this day.
Compromising evidence
In 2016, Torshin found himself at the center of a major scandal. The Bloomberg agency made public a secret report from the Spanish police, in which Alexander Porfirievich appears as the head of one of the organized crime groups that laundered money in Spain. At the same time, no formal charges were brought.
Alexander Torshin denies any accusations in this case. The Central Bank also denies the participation of its employees in illegal activities.
Awards and achievements
Torshin is a candidate of legal sciences and has two higher educations.
Among the awards of the Order of Honor, Friendship, them. A. Kadyrov, “Commonwealth”, Anatoly Koni medal, title of Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation. A.P. Torshin has certain memories associated with each award.
Alexander Porfirievich Torshin is a life member of the National Rifle Association of the United States. He is also a member board of trustees Practical Shooting Federation.
Torshin is an avid collector of weapons and knows how to shoot a crossbow quite well. Shooting is his life's passion.
Family
Alexander Torshin is married. The couple have two daughters, who have already given them two granddaughters and a grandson.
As you can see, Alexander Porfiryevich’s family is surrounded almost exclusively by women. They are always ready to support their husband and father.
general characteristics
Alexander Torshin is a rather controversial figure. His name is associated with positive reviews, and with various scandals. A significant part of his career is connected with work in the Federation Council. And currently he is employed at the Central Bank of Russia in one of the senior management positions.
We managed to learn quite a lot about such a person as Alexander Porfiryevich Torshin. The biography, awards, achievements and personal life of this person have been studied by us. But, despite this, it is quite difficult to give a qualitative assessment of the activities of Alexander Torshin, since there are doubts about the objectivity of some data. But I want to believe that this person will be able to bring a lot of benefit to the state and citizens of the country in the future.
Mystery man? No, senator-lobbyist Alexander Torshin?
Senator Alexander Torshin
First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Alexander Torshin is a mysterious figure in the Russian Senate. The main mystery is how, after all his “initiatives,” this man managed to maintain his high post. Extravagant statements and shocking behavior of people's representatives are one thing, but almost overt lobbying of the interests of representatives and businessmen, including of another state, is still completely different.
At first glance, Torshin is an ordinary lover of social events. However, in the Nezavisimaya Gazeta rating, the senator has not left the top twenty most influential professional lobbyists for many years, although his projects do not always end in success. Despite this, he is in the second hundred in the ranking of politicians, and such a “modest” position, you see, is very convenient for a lobbyist.
In 2011, Torshin actively lobbied for the interests of tobacco producers. Following this, the senator took the side of the beer lobby, becoming a supporter of low excise taxes on beer and promoting the idea that increasing beer consumption would combat the consumption of vodka.
Torshin also managed to become famous for his speeches against the resignation of the ex-Minister of Internal Affairs of Tatarstan Safarov, when his employees raped a man to death in the Dalniy police station
But what is truly surprising is this: being a member of the Russian Federation Council and the National Anti-Terrorism Committee, he is also a life member of the US National Rifle Association (NRA), is a member of the Oval Office and takes part in the annual national prayer breakfast hosted by the US President. High-ranking people are invited to such breakfasts public figures and officials, including foreign ones, on whom the American leadership would be interested in exerting any influence. In other words, a member of the Federation Council and the NAC of the Russian Federation with access to secret information regularly participates in activities of a foreign government that are slippery from the point of view of political ethics.
The US National Rifle Association is a powerful lobbying organization closely associated with the US Department of Defense and the CIA. Between 2010 and 2012 alone, the NRA spent more than $20 million on congressional elections, winning 25 congressmen. Approximately $100 million was spent on the campaign against Barack Obama's re-election as president, as he has been trying for years to ban the sale of assault weapons in the country.
Senator Torshin’s close and, in the current political situation, even dubious ties with the United States obviously explain his sudden interest in OJSC Togliattiazot, the world’s largest producer of ammonia. The notorious chemical company has a deep American trail behind it. At the end of the 70s of the last century, a giant chemical plant was built by the Americans, who have been secretly controlling the plant ever since. Until 1997, the United States also remained a monopoly buyer of ToAZ products and is still its main sales market. Searches in a criminal case of fraud in February 2013 yielded an unexpected result - it turned out that US citizen Donald Knapp not only worked at the plant, but also lived for many years. According to some reports, at ToAZ he served as a “supervisor” from the American side.
Interestingly, not long ago ToAZ disowned business interests in the United States, distributing a message according to which the company’s products “have not been sold on the American market for several years.” However, this information contradicts data from ToAZ reports for 2012 and 2013, where the United States still ranks first in the list of export markets for the plant.
The Americans came up with an original scheme - ammonia from the plant is sold at a price reduced by almost one and a half times to an offshore company, which already sells important strategic raw materials to the Americans at a fair price. Everything is in the black except the Russian budget.
During the era of privatization, the plant was taken over by the “red director” Vladimir Makhlai. In the mid-2000s, Vladimir Makhlai had problems with the law - Russian investigators uncovered his financial scams. The directors were wanted on charges of fraud and tax evasion. Makhlai joined the camp of disgraced oligarchs and fled to the UK, but retained control over the enterprise and continued to manage it until 2011, when his son Sergei replaced him as chairman of the board of directors of ToAZ. And everything would have been fine, but Sergei left for the USA back in 1994 and became an American citizen. Since then he has not been seen in Russia. And the American scheme for moving profits offshore and evading taxes, introduced under Makhlai Sr., continued to work and fill their foreign accounts with millions of dollars.
At the end of 2012, Russian investigators again became interested in the scheme for siphoning off profits from ToAZ. And in January 2013 already CEO ToAZ Evgeniy Korolev was forced to quickly leave “on a business trip” to London, from where he also has not yet returned.
At this very moment, member of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Alexander Porfirievich Torshin appeared on the stage. And not just like that, but with a letter to the head himself Investigative Committee RF Alexander Bastrykin. In it, he tried in every possible way to present the fugitive oligarchs, suspected of fraud involving hundreds of millions of dollars, as innocent victims of a monstrous misunderstanding. Strange, isn't it? Senator from Mari El (not from Samara region) explains to the head of the RF IC who is right and who is wrong in a criminal case.
Oleg Lurie, author of investigative journalism: “What does Alexander Torshin, a senator from Mari El, a lawyer and psychologist by training, care about a chemical plant from Tolyatti? Apart from an endless love for the United States, it would seem that they have nothing in common. But even here you can stumble upon terrifying discoveries. The conclusions suggest themselves. Just remember Torshin’s active promotion of the legalization of firearms circulation in Russia. Torshin, a life member of the NRA since 2011, created its Russian equivalent - the interregional public organization"The right to arms." And after a few months he stood up to defend the owners of ToAZ. If the fighters for Russian armament achieve their goal, foreign arms manufacturers will be happy, but for Russia it will turn into a national disaster. It’s interesting that Alexander Torshin’s interests converged precisely in the region where ToAZ’s multibillion-dollar shadow profits flow and from where the idea of arming the Russian population is lobbied.”
When you become familiar with the above facts in open sources(newspapers, magazines, websites), it is very difficult to call Torshin’s activities in Russia patriotic. Because it is more beneficial to those who are on the other side of the barricades from us today.
Obolensky Sergey