Ukraine Energy Official Says Giuliani Associates Tried to Recruit Him
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-energy-official-says-giuliani-associates-tried-to-recruit-him-11574652499
Two associates of Rudy Giuliani tried to recruit a top Ukrainian energy official in March in a proposed takeover of the state oil-and-gas company, describing the company’s chief executive and the then-U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch as part of “this Soros cartel” working against President Trump.
“You’re a Republican, right?” Andrew Favorov, the head of natural gas for state-run Naftogaz, recalled the men, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, asking him, after their reference to investor and Democratic donor George Soros. “We want you to be our guy.”
Mr. Favorov said he met voluntarily this week with New York federal prosecutors as part of an investigation into the activities of Messrs. Fruman, Parnas and Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s personal attorney. Prosecutors last month arrested Messrs. Fruman and Parnas on campaign-finance charges stemming from alleged efforts to leverage political connections and campaign donations—some from foreign donors—to benefit their own business interests and to assist Mr. Giuliani in efforts to oust Ms. Yovanovitch.
In one of his first interviews since meeting with prosecutors, Mr. Favorov described the efforts of Messrs. Fruman and Parnas to enlist his help in an effort to oust Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev. Naftogaz is the most important company in Ukraine, representing nearly 10% of the country’s gross domestic product and supplying virtually all of the country’s natural gas.
Mr. Favorov said he was bewildered by Messrs. Parnas and Fruman’s pitch to stage a takeover of Naftogaz and put Mr. Favorov in place as CEO. On one hand, the pair appeared to know little about the natural gas business; on the other it was clear to him they had significant political connections.
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