“No interference” Russian or “a penny of money” received, and a career in the private sector which “concerns only” him: former Prime Minister François Fillon was heard on Tuesday in the Assembly on his links with Moscow and its past presence on the boards of directors of Russian multinationals.
The former right-wing candidate for the 2017 presidential election appeared before the commission of inquiry initiated by the National Rally (RN) and devoted to “political, economic and financial interference by foreign powers”.
François Fillon first spoke of his “36 years of public life”, as deputy, minister or head of government from 2007 to 2012.
“Foreign interference, yes, I encountered it, most of the time, it came from a friendly and allied country called the United States. I was listened to with President Sarkozy for five years by the NSA,” the US National Security Agency, he said. “I was not directly affected by Russian interference,” he adds.
Mr. Fillon then spoke of his retraining in the private sector and his presence for a time on the board of directors of the Russian companies Sibur (petrochemicals) and Zarubezhneft (hydrocarbons), before he resigned after the invasion of Ukraine. by the Russian army.
The former head of government insisted on the private nature of his activities: “I lead my professional career as I see fit, if I want to sell rillettes on Red Square, I will sell rillettes on Red Square “.
“All of this happened at the end of 2021. I attended a council meeting with the Zarubezhneft company” and a “videoconference meeting due to Covid from the Sibur company” before “my resignation”, “as soon as Ukraine was invaded,” he said.
“I have never touched a penny of money from Russia in all my political and private life”, he assured, even if “I would naturally have been paid” if “I had continued” to sit on these two boards.
François Fillon was also questioned about the French company Cifal operating in Russia and targeted by a preliminary investigation by the national financial prosecutor’s office for suspicion of corruption of a foreign public official.
According to a source familiar with the matter, Cifal was commissioned by the Congolese company Orion – led by Lucien Ebata, special adviser to the President of Congo-Brazzaville Denis Sassou Nguesso – to find an investor in Russia to sell its shares in the MBK oil field to. congo.
With this in mind, the manager of Cifal Gilles Rémy called on François Fillon to put him in touch with a Russian businessman. In this contract, Mr. Fillon was remunerated as a business contributor. No suspicion of corruption currently weighs on him, said this source familiar with the matter.
“I am not concerned by the ongoing investigations, I worked for a company which is concerned by an investigation”, underlined Mr. Fillon, who has “very great respect for Cifal and its leader”.
On the geopolitical level, “I was wrong on one point, I readily admit it. I was convinced that President Putin would not take action” in Ukraine, “an absolute disaster”, said François Fillon.
The former Prime Minister and ex-deputy of Sarthe returned to the Palais Bourbon almost a year after his conviction on appeal in the case of the fictitious jobs of his wife Pénélope to four years in prison, including one year firm, 375,000 euros fine and ten years of ineligibility. The couple had announced their intention to appeal.
The commission of inquiry into foreign interference, chaired by RN deputy Jean-Philippe Tanguy, was launched by Marine Le Pen’s group at the end of 2022 to try to put an end to accusations making the far-right party an agent of the Russian influence in France. The other camps denounce a “diversion” of the National Rally.
Several politicians have already been interviewed. For Renaissance rapporteur Constance Le Grip, “the most salient point” of this commission “remains the strategy of influence and interference between Russia and the FN, which has become RN, with Marine Le Pen’s meeting at the Kremlin” before the 2017 presidential election.
On Thursday, former RN MEP Jean-Luc Schaffhauser will be heard on the Russian loan of 9.4 million euros granted to Marine Le Pen’s party in 2014. The commissions he allegedly received are the subject of an investigation of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office.
02/05/2023 19:52:29 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
