Things then get murky. Using the Trans Uralian Oil Company as his vehicle, Obrenovich then bid for another oil company to be hived off, based in Ukhta, in the nearby Komi Republic. It is thought he put the police chief there on the payroll. On the day the bids were closed for Ukkom Oil its managing director's house was raided and the man himself arrested by the police on charges of fraudulent accounting. In a state of apparent panic, Minenergo rapidly accepted Obrenovich's bid, seeing Ukkom without a boss to be in urgent need of management. The charges against the managing director proved to be groundless. Three other examples of similar “irregularities” can be found in the acquisition history of Obrenovich's business portfolio. Twenty years on, his oil assets – trading today under the name Obrenovich Oil & Gas (OO&G), having acquired numerous other businesses in the energy sector – are currently valued at $20.2 billion.
Obrenovich was one of the few plutocrats to resist President Putin's “Grand Bargain” with the oligarchs – designed to rein in their power; Obrenovich also refused to contribute to Putin's Stabilization Fund, which he referred to publicly as the president's slush money. Ever since, Obrenovich has been persona non grata – a status which has persisted under President Tarkovsky. It is thought Obrenovich has not set foot in Russia for ten years.
Urban legend has it that he interfered with two teams of inspectors sent to conduct a government audit of OO&G's Russian assets; the leader of one was found in a local hotel room with three prostitutes, while a key investigator of the other was found to have half a kilo of cocaine in his suitcase – having been driven to the airport in a courtesy car supplied by Obrenovich Oil & Gas…
Obrenovich has rarely been short of controversy. The manager of the local Urals branch of the United Bank of Siberia, to whom Obrenovich had promised 20 per cent of the equity in the initial privatization, disappeared – without trace – while holidaying on the Black Sea in 1996. In 2007, the banker's widow famously sued Obrenovich in New York for $4 billion, the value of the shareholding she claimed she should have inherited from her husband in Obrenovich Oil & Gas. Obrenovich offered her $10 million to go away, coincidentally a sum equivalent to 20 per cent of the original Trans Uralian acquisition. She rejected it on the basis her husband was a shareholder in the holding company, not a subsidiary, and that the original $50 million TUOC was anyway valued at $4 billion today – setting the minimum value of her claim at $800 million. Obrenovich's legal approach was to trash the character of the dead man, and then his widow – citing alcohol abuse, irregular accounting, tax evasion, associations with known criminals – all of which she denied. Breaking down in court and contradicting herself several times, probably under the stress, the judge described the widow as an “unreliable witness” and threw the case out.
Today, Avel Obrenovich lives in Monte Carlo and, on the back of his interest in motor racing, has bought and owns the Massarella Formula One Team. Most of that team's costs are claimed against tax, filed by Obrenovich Oil & Gas as a marketing expense.
Anatoly Pokrovsky
Straker thought that Avel Obrenovich sounded like a right charmer.
If you wanted “greedy”, “unscrupulous”, or “ruthless”, this oligarch was a viable candidate. Straker soon felt that as a suspected perpetrator of the crash at the Grand Prix, Obrenovich could easily have him heading in the right direction.
Straker landed in Finland late that night. Carrying only hand luggage, he was out through immigration quickly and riding in the back of a cab towards the centre of the city half an hour later. The short journey into the middle of Helsinki had him arrive at the Hotel Kämp just after midnight.
A message was waiting for him at Reception. San Marino was confirming their breakfast meeting at 7:30 the following morning.
Shortly after arriving in his room, Straker turned in. Before falling asleep, he sent McMahon a text: Hope your flat was in one piece this evening?
FIFTY-ONE
At half-past seven the next morning Straker knocked on the door of the Mannerheim Suite. The Seventh Marquis of San Marino opened it personally and greeted him warmly.
‘I am glad you could come,’ he said as he closed the door behind Straker. The FIA president added: ‘The tragedy of the Russian Grand Prix is a very sorry business. I am so sorry for you all.’
San Marino's 1950s movie-star looks seemed a little less charismatic than usual, possibly reflecting the gravity of the matter in hand. Even so, he put Straker at his ease, inviting him to sit at the small table in the middle of the sitting room. Breakfast was already laid up, complete with silver service on a crisp white linen tablecloth. A liveried waiter stepped forward to hold out a chair for him. But Straker didn’t sit immediately.
To his surprise a third place was set.
In a far corner of the suite a lavatory could be heard flushing. Shortly afterwards a door was opened.
‘Colonel Straker,’ he said, ‘I have taken the liberty of inviting another guest to our meeting. I don’t believe you’ve met before – please let me introduce you to Mr Avel Obrenovich.’
What? Straker screamed to himself.
What the fuck is he doing here?
What kind of stitch-up was this?
From all that he knew about Obrenovich, this was little less than a betrayal by San Marino of Straker's confidence.
The Russian was walking towards him.
Straker wondered how much his expression might be giving away his reaction.
Soon standing in front of him was a distinctive rather than a good-looking man.
Obrenovich appeared to be older than expected, perhaps in his mid-sixties. He was roughly five feet eight, a good six inches shorter than Straker, with a markedly angular face. His forehead, nose and chin all seemed to protrude to a point. Beady, penetrating eyes were deeply set in his skull, while his receding hairline resulted in a sizeable bald patch. What hair he did have, on either side of his head, was long and greying.
Straker almost had to force himself to shake the man's hand.
‘It is interesting finally to meet Ptarmigan's strategist and master tactician,’ said Obrenovich quietly, which Straker took to be sarcastic. The Russian had a deep voice and spoke slowly in a Russian-tinged – but cosmopolitan – accent. ‘I have been looking forward to meeting the man who dismantled Mr Van Der Vaal's – let's call it – “scheme” last year. That was seriously impressive of you.’
Straker had no idea how to react to this.
Surely Obrenovich should have been pissed off with Straker? After all, he had outed the oligarch's team boss at Massarella for his nefarious intentions; Van Der Vaal had been using Obrenovich's money, name and trust to pursue an illicit power grab of Formula One's commercial arm, not to mention sabotaging Ptarmigan's racing cars with violent results. Yet Obrenovich seemed to be offering him gratitude. How could this be?
The Russian then added: ‘The mock defection you engineered, and the compelling case you mounted against Van Der Vaal's activities, were the work of a keen mind and a bold strategist.’
Straker continued to struggle with this.
Obrenovich was being so completely at odds with his expectations. For some kind of reassurance, Straker turned to San Marino. The president of the FIA appeared completely comfortable with Obrenovich's compliments.
The other two men took their seats for breakfast. Hurriedly, Straker tried to recalibrate his opinion of everything that had gone on over the last year, let alone what had been going on in Moscow since the accident at the Russian Grand Prix. If this was the real Obrenovich, Straker's investigation would have to be completely reset to zero. How could this Obrenovich be behind the Zhar-ptitsa sabotage and crash?
Unless, of course…
Straker suddenly realized he would have to revise his entire pitch to the FIA president.
San Marino said: ‘Colonel, or may I call you Matt? Dominic Quartano told me that you have some information – gleaned from your investigation into the tragedy at the Moscow Grand Prix?’
Straker couldn’t shut one thought out of his mind: How could he be sure that the Russian at this table was as divorced from last year's sabotage, or as detached from Van Der Vaal's unethical activities, as he was making out?
‘Please forgive me,’ he said to San Marino. Then, looking at Obrenovich, Straker said: ‘I have some highly sensitive findings from the crash, which, I believe impact – if not directly involve – Mr Obrenovich. After Ptarmigan's experiences with his F1 team last year, it's not easy for me to see Mr Obrenovich as a neutral figure here. I believe some reassurance would not be unreasonable, given our “mutual” history.’
‘I understand fully, Matt,’ replied San Marino. ‘Please let me assure you that Mr Obrenovich enjoys my full confidence.’
