Is Merkel going to win the federal elections owing to Poroshenko?

[LucasBauer]

Every time shortly before the elections there are heated debates over the funding of parties. The Bundestag, by all means, issues some data but it mainly deals with the contributions making the sum of more than 10 thousand euros. The sources of other 69% donations below this minimal level remain unknown. It's a well-established fact already that during election campaigns the CDU/CSU has always had incontestable financial advantage making it a winner at the elections in the long run. Where does Merkel turn to in search of the money able to lead her to victory?



It's secret to nobody that CDU hides its "black cash" in the foundations having accounts in the banks of Switzerland. It was the usual practice in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. Do you remember that 1999 scandal that forced Helmut Kohl to retire? Nothing has changed since then. So far, CDU has been sticking to the old tradition of concealing the party incomings.

Michael Langer, a staffer of the magazine Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, managed to clear up the scheme of unlawful financing of Angela Merkel's election campaign. The illegal financial flows from the Chancellor's friends are accumulated in Albertina foundation with its account in Rothschild Bank AG. The foundation is supervised by a famous financier Herbert Batliner who has been acting on behalf of the CDU over dozens of years already.

Oddly enough, the name of Petro Poroshenko, president of Ukraine, is also in the list of Bundeskanzlerin's sponsors. Perhaps it doesn't amount to a full-fledged sensation, for Poroshenko by making donations into the CDU/CSU coffers is actually interested in guarantees for his present and future business in Germany. As you might know, back in 2011, Poroshenko bought a starch producing facility in Saxony-Anhalt and registered it under his ownership via some dummy firms. Such a scheme gives Ukrainian president a good chance to launder the illegal profits. Poroshenko, as well as other Merkel's sponsors, transfers "clean" money to Albertina foundation and then by small sums the donations "are channeled for financial backing of the local and central CDU branches, their election activity".



Translation.

Merkel and Poroshenko are not only on friendly terms, financial ones as well

Pre-election campaign comes very costly indeed. Parties spend millions euros to reach their goals. Financial backing of parties is highly questionable, for the process isn't always transparent despite the existing rather tough laws. Bundestag election campaign of 2017 is no exclusion. In particular, there are quite serious claims to Chancellor Merkel and CDU party. They relate funding of Merkel's election campaign by president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.

Poroshenko's offshore schemes in Federal Republic of Germany.

As it has become known from the 'Panama papers', many top politicians have their faces in the trough. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, who had promised to stop doing business over the span of his presidential term, is also in the list. Yes, he has partially reconstructed his business and transferred some active assets to 'blind trust' management but several enterprises are still staying under his personal rule and control.

Poroshenko's business pattern is rather sophisticated, comprising both large and small facilities. One of them is a plant for production of starch, fodder and gluten in German city of Elsteraue. Poroshenko purchased it in 2011. This enterprise is an integral part of Poroshenko's business system, for in Ukraine he has got a number of processing companies and a large agricultural company producing raw materials. Apart from that, starch is used at candy enterprises owned by Poroshenko. The purchase of the plant in Germany made it possible for the Ukrainian president to become the biggest starch and molasses producer in Europe.

There was employed special scheme with some offshore firms involved to cover the participation of Poroshenko in the purchasing deal and getting the plant into his ownership. According to the Register of Enterprises in Germany, the operator of the plant, Interstarch GmbH, owes its birth to the Cyprus company Camarin Limited. Up till 2014 the founder of this company had been the British Morewig Limited. Later on, the Cyprus company was reregistered for a firm from the British Virgin Islands.

Finally, the plant in Elsteraue came into possession of Euro Business Investments LTD registered on the offshore island of Tortola. The consultant role during the purchase of the German plant in 2011 was performed by Investment Capital Ukraine (ICU). According to its data, the beneficiary owner of the Cyprus company is a close friend of Poroshenko and his business-partner Sergey Zaitsev. But, like in the story with the offshore reregistration of Roshen corporation, Zaitsev is only performing the role of a frontman, while the real owner receiving multimillion profits is actually president of Ukraine Poroshenko, according to the 'Panama papers'.

Scandal around donations. History repeats itself.

During his meeting with Angela Merkel, Petro Poroshenko declared, 'We need a strong Germany in the united Europe'. And who can guarantee this? It's naturally Bundeskanzlerin and a close friend Angela Merkel. Poroshenko is personally interested in her victory at the elections, for she is the true guarantor of his business unhampered progress in Germany and Europe.

Elections into Landtag of the North Rhine-Westphalia are usually called the full rehearsal before the Bundestag elections. Victory at the Landtag elections means victory at the Bundestag elections. The North Rhine-Westphalia has always been 'red' and CDU victory became a real sensation. How on earth could Merkel manage to score off her rivals? Money talks, not everywhere of course....but in many areas, you know.... In particular it is quite able to ensure success at the elections. The sponsorship is still far from being transparent. The accounts regularly issued by Bundestag refer to a minor part of donations while more than 69% of them are of unknown origin due to the fact that the sums donated do not exceed 10 thousand euros.

Information on the actual sums spent by CDU on the elections in the North Rhine-Westphalia is still being concealed from public though the 'shadow' funding scheme has come to the broad daylight already.

Herbert Batliner, a famous lawyer and a trustee from Lichtenstein, is running more than 10 thousand various foundations. About a hundred of them (Norfolk, Wisotest, Aspe, etc.) were founded by him on the CDU request with the aim of concealing the party revenues. They had to liquidate part of the funds following their disclosure. The rest of them have been successfully functioning up till now, Albertina in particular. This foundation, having its banking account in Rothschild Bank AG, has been over 10 years employed as a gigantic 'washing machine' for money laundry. The money laundered at the Poroshenko's plant in Elsteraue arrives here as well. 'Clean' money of the Ukrainian president and other donators by small sums is then channeled for financial backing of the local and central CDU branches, their election activity.

Merkel is aware of the fraud.

Is Merkel in the know about who and how financed Armin Laschet (the head of North Rhine-Westphalia)? This is rather a rhetorical type of question in the context. Angela Merkel, whom former Chancellor Helmut Kohl would call 'mein Mädchen', picked up lots of useful things with her tutor, including the practice of concealing party revenues. The CDU is widely known for its old standing tradition of harboring illegal profits in Switzerland.

German voters are to make rather a sophisticated choice at the September elections due to those new revelations. Still they must make the right decision so that not to allow far more dramatic change of situation to occur in Germany and Europe as a whole.

Could we ever have thought that "Mommy of the German nation" can plunge that low! It appears that after the grandiose collapse of multiculturalism policy and refugee havoc she is not sure of her own might and doesn't believe that Germans trust her the way they did it 12 years ago.

Original article in German.

[Loki]

Hmmm... this is not good at all. It means Poroshenko probably counts on Merkel to aid him in his country's crisis with the Donbass rebels, and to maintain an anti-Russian stance. It would be good to get more info about this.

[Wanderer]

Poroshenko is quite unpopular in Ukraine, FWIW. But Ukrainians have little choice in the matter, at the moment.

[Loki]

Poroshenko is quite unpopular in Ukraine, FWIW. But Ukrainians have little choice in the matter, at the moment.

Yeah, if anyone has been cheated it is the Ukrainian people. Cheated into fighting America's war for them. Cheated into being puppets of the American Empire. But should a really hot war break out, Ukraine would be the first to be invaded. So yeah.. not a good deal for them at all.

[Wanderer]

Yeah, if anyone has been cheated it is the Ukrainian people. Cheated into fighting America's war for them. Cheated into being puppets of the American Empire. But should a really hot war break out, Ukraine would be the first to be invaded. So yeah.. not a good deal for them at all.

I don't think they'd been cheated, necessarily. Many Ukrainians simply wanted a less corrupt, more prosperous, more Western-leaning country. I have wondered whether the Maidan revolution was really worth it. But what position am I in to judge? I don't live there. I don't know what it's like.

Thus far, I don't see how the Ukrainian crisis has benefited America. Perhaps some foreign policy leaders see things differently. However, at the moment, it is a major obstacle to improving relations with Russia. Russia will never be our friend; they'll always be our adversaries. But it is not in our interest for relations to be this hostile.

[Loki]

I don't think they'd been cheated, necessarily. Many Ukrainians simply wanted a less corrupt, more prosperous, more Western-leaning country. I have wondered whether the Maidan revolution was really worth it. But what position am I in to judge? I don't live there. I don't know what it's like.

Thus far, I don't see how the Ukrainian crisis has benefited America. Perhaps some foreign policy leaders see things differently. However, at the moment, it is a major obstacle to improving relations with Russia. Russia will never be our friend; they'll always be our adversaries. But it is not in our interest for relations to be this hostile.

They have definitely been used, at the very least. And of course, instability on Russia's borders is beneficial for Americans who want enmity with Russia. But of course in real terms, of benefit to no-one.

Also, why do you always want to be an enemy to Russia? Cmon, the world moves on. There's no need for that.

[Wanderer]

They have definitely been used, at the very least. And of course, instability on Russia's borders is beneficial for Americans who want enmity with Russia. But of course in real terms, of benefit to no-one.

Also, why do you always want to be an enemy to Russia? Cmon, the world moves on. There's no need for that.

Russia will always try to undermine America. Their specialty is propaganda and they've been employing anti-American propaganda as a geopolitical tool far longer and far more insidiously than most people realize. I mean, people must KNOW it, but they don't appreciate the effects of it. It goes right back to the Soviet era. They haven't changed.

And Russians see Americans as their enemies, too. The antagonism is reciprocal.

[Loki]

Russia will always try to undermine America. Their specialty is propaganda and they've been employing anti-American propaganda as a geopolitical tool far longer and far more insidiously than most people realize. I mean, people must KNOW it, but they don't appreciate the effects of it. It goes right back to the Soviet era. They haven't changed.

And Russians see Americans as their enemies, too. The antagonism is reciprocal.

No, you've got it wrong from the get-go. Sadly. You don't even know how wrong you are.

You parrot the ideals of the Deep State, which is actually anti-American... as in, not a friend of the American people at all. You must have supported Hillary Clinton too. Your President disagrees with you, and so do many Americans whose eyes are opened.

[Wanderer]

No, you've got it wrong from the get-go. Sadly. You don't even know how wrong you are.

You parrot the ideals of the Deep State, which is actually anti-American... as in, not a friend of the American people at all. You must have supported Hillary Clinton too. Your President disagrees with you, and so do many Americans whose eyes are opened.

I have serious misgivings about both parties. Both are quite horrible in their own ways. One major benefit of the Democrats is at least they don't try to dismantle healthcare in this country, but that's another topic altogether.

Personally, despite that, the anti-Trump lunatics in this country have all but turned me into a Trump supporter. I have to be honest: I think the guy is seriously flawed as a politician. I'm very skeptical of his temperament and judgment. However, the left have pretty much demonstrated that they WANT him to fail. That's fucked up. America should come first, not this partisan politics BS. People should want Trump to do a good job. On top of that, I am encouraged by Trump's recent steps towards slashing legal immigration. He didn't talk about that as much as he should have during his campaign (the immigration issue was more about illegal immigration). If Republicans focused on THAT agenda rather than their retarded agenda that includes millions of Americans losing health insurance, then I could feel better about them.

On that note, just like I may not be too keen on all aspects of American foreign policy (generally, I DON'T think it serves our interests the way it should), I have America's interests at heart when we're dealing with foreign adversaries.

[Odin]