Inside Rex Tillersons long romance with Russia
'During the presidential campaign, the Trump team fought off accusations that it had direct connections with senior Russian officials and oligarchs. Now, President-elect Donald Trump has appointed as his secretary of state Rex Tillerson, a businessman who has some of the most deep and long-standing ties to the Russian political and business elite of any American.
Not so long ago, the Trump camp disavowed its former foreign policy adviser Carter Page when it was reported in September that he had met with Igor Sechin, head of the Russian oil giant Rosneft. In fact, Page had never met with Sechin. But after leading Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), called for an FBI investigation into Page’s relationship with the sanctioned Russian tycoon, the Trump team pretended he had never even been part of the campaign.
Tillerson, the CEO of ExxonMobil, has a close and personal relationship with Sechin dating back over a decade. The connection was integral to ExxonMobil’s ability to deeply penetrate the corrupt but lucrative Russian oil market — and it almost led to Russia’s energy industry acquiring a significant stake in strategic American assets.
Tillerson’s involvement in Russia dates back to 1998, when he was appointed head of Exxon Neftegas Limited, which was in charge of the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project off the coast of Siberia. The huge project put Tillerson in line to become the corporation’s vice president, president and eventually chairman and chief executive officer.'>>>
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2016/12/13/inside-rex-tillersons-long-romance-with-russia/?
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