Matthias Warnig
Matthias Warnig (born 26 July 1955) is a former member of the Stasi and currently the Managing Director (CEO) of the Nord Stream AG, a company for construction and operation of the Nord Stream submarine gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.
Biography
In 1974 Warnig started his career at the Stasi, the secret police of communist East Germany.[1][2]
Warnig allegedly worked with KGB officer Vladimir Putin. The two men collaborated on recruiting West German citizens for the KGB.[1] Warnig, however, has denied this by saying that he met for the first time in 1991, when Putin was the head of the Committee for External Relations of the Saint Petersburg Mayor's Office.[3][4]
Warnig had apparently spied on Dresdner Bank AG in West Germany before he began to work in the bank.[5]
Dresdner Bank attempted to get a banking operating license in Saint Petersburg, where Putin was now in charge of foreign economic relations. Warnig took part in negotiations. The office was opened in 1991.[6][7] Warnig became Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dresdner Bank ZAO, Dresdner Bank Russian subsidiary. In 2004-05, the bank advised on the controversial forced sale of Yukos assets.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Nord Stream, Matthias Warnig (codename "Arthur") and the Gazprom Lobby Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 6 Issue: 114
- ^ Eine Stasi-Karriere. Deutsche Landwirte
- ^ "Report Links Putin to Dresdner". The St. Petersburg Times. 2005-03-01. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
- ^ "Matthias Warnig: "In Russia you need a lot of patience"". Die Welt am Sonntag. Nord Stream AG. 2007-01-14. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
- ^ Dresdner's Man in Russia, Wall Street Journal Europe, 2005
- ^ Seduced by secrets: inside the Stasi's spy-tech world, Kristie Macrakis
- ^ Report Links Putin to Dresdner St. Petersburg Times
External links
- Nord Stream, Matthias Warnig (codename "Arthur") and the Gazprom Lobby Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 6 Issue: 114
- Matthias Warnig: "What is good for Russia is good for Germany” by Irina Reznik, The Vedomosti 11 October 2006 (translation at the website of Nord Stream AG, includes biography of Matthias Warnig)