2023-05-03 03:01:17
François Fillon has not changed so much. In the middle of the presidential campaign, in 2017, when his legal setbacks raised contradictions between his speech and his personal ethics, he remained sure of his rights, deaf to the advice of his faithful suggesting that he hand over.
Tuesday, May 2, questioned about his relations with the Russian regime by the parliamentary commission of inquiry into political, economic and financial interference by foreign powers, the former prime minister showed the same disbelief. Faced with questions about his recruitment by Russian companies close to the Kremlin, he assured that he did not see how this could be perceived as a bond of subjection vis-à-vis the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
For its last week of hearings, this commission – created on December 6, 2022, and chaired by the deputy (National Rally, RN) of the Somme Jean-Philippe Tanguy, whose party would like to get rid of accusations of allegiance to Moscow – , wanted to mention the presence of Mr. Fillon on the board of directors of the Russian companies Sibur (petrochemicals) and Zarubezhneft (hydrocarbons). He had to, forced and forced, resign from these posts after the Russian aggression in Ukraine, on February 24, 2022. But were we dealing with a form of interference by thus giving Russia access to relations, diary? Addresses and Secrets Kept by the Former Prime Minister or a Simple Retraining?
After twenty-two years of parliamentary mandates and twelve years as minister and head of government, Mr. Fillon considers that he left public life in 2017 and, as such, enjoys the right to work like anyone else. He then became a partner in an investment fund before setting up, in 2020, his own consulting activity to support companies wishing to invest, particularly in Russia. This is how he worked for the French company Cifal, today targeted by a preliminary investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office for suspicions of corruption of a foreign public official, investigations of which he says he is completely foreign.
“I am accountable to no one”
In 2021, François Fillon attends his first board meetings of Zarubezhneft then Sibur. “It is not an executive function”, he recalls. Nevertheless, he confirms that Zarubezhneft is indeed a state company and that it was a decree that formalized his appointment. But this oil group only intervenes, according to him, outside of Russia, especially in Asia and Latin America, which, according to him, exempts it from any conflict of interest. Sibur is a completely private company, which, according to the reasoning of the former Prime Minister, also makes it a non-issue.
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