There is a new scandal surrounding the fake fund to support Nord Stream-2

A new round of scandal surrounding a fake fund to support Nord Stream 2 in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Strange events around 20 million euros from Russia, writes dw.com.

Manuela Schwezig

In one of the regions of the Federal Republic of Germany, an employee of the financial department found a tax declaration of one of the funds in her office, took it with her and burned it in the fireplace. For a strong detective story, the plot is weak, but for a political scandal, the material is probably enough. Moreover, the scandal broke out in Germany an hour ago, but now, because of fresh revelations, the exposed has entered a new phase. Clouds are gathering again over the former star of the German Social Democrats, who not so long ago had good chances to make a career at the federal level.

Fake fund for the completion of "Nord Stream-2"

The Internet portal of the political journal Cicero, which last week gave impetus to a new round of public discussion, compares the Prime Minister of the East German federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Manuela Schwesig (Manuela Schwesig) with Al Capone. Like the famous American gangster, who was formally brought to justice not for his bloody crimes, but for non-payment of taxes, her government, the publication explains, may eventually fall due to the peculiarities of the German tax legislation, and not at all due to the serious a political error, in which he is accused.
The mistake refers to the creation in January 2021 of a regional fund called "Climate and Environmental Protection" ("Klima- und Umweltschutz MV"), to which Gazprom provided 20 million euros. In fact, the purpose of the fund - it was his tax declaration that was burned in the fireplace - was to help the Russian state company complete the construction of Nord Stream-2, bypassing US sanctions. This gas pipeline, like the Nord Stream, ends on the territory of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which predetermined the long-term close ties with Russia of the regional political authorities, first of all, the local social democrats.

Having resorted to all sorts of tricks when creating the fund, Manuela Schwezyg "thus contributed to the implementation of Vladimir Putin's aggressive plans," Cicero believes. A similar opinion about the fake fund has long been held by many other German mass media. However, in the spring of 2022, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the prime minister, despite the barrage of criticism, still managed to stay in power. Including because six months before that, in the fall of 2021, she triumphantly won the regional elections, after which she formed a coalition with the Left Party.

The land government knew about the destruction of the document

And now the story with the burnt tax declaration has surfaced. First of all, what is strange here is why the financial inspector went to a similar official crime at all. Allegedly, because she accidentally found this document in her possession, she "panicked." In turn, the opposition parties in the regional parliament (Landtag) are convinced that what happened was the result of political pressure on the tax authorities, and they demand an investigation. It will be: special meetings of two parliamentary committees — legal and financial — have already been scheduled.

The behavior of the Minister of Justice of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Jacqueline Bernhardt (Jacqueline Bernhardt) from the Left Party also looks extremely strange. As the Handelsblatt newspaper has now found out, she found out about the burnt declaration in May of last year, but stubbornly kept silent about it while everyone was looking for the missing document. So this political figure is now under attack.

However, in a new publication dated February 26, Cicero under the heading "Did the Shwezyg government accept a Russian bribe?" public attention is focused on the tax fate of those 20 million euros that the fund received from Gazprom.

Intrigue around the tax when donating 20 million euros

The interlocutor of the publication, a lawyer and former member of the Bundestag from the conservative CDU party, Karl-Georg Wellmann, points out that similar donations, according to German law, are taxed at 50%. Manuela Schwezig, being a specialist in tax law, could not fail to know this. Consequently, it was clear from the very beginning that 10 million euros from the donated fund amount in the form of a tax would have to go to the land treasury and thus at the disposal of its government. And during election time.

"This means that instead of directly receiving money from Gazprom, which would be illegal, a supposedly more elegant way was chosen through the gift tax," Carl-Georg Wellman concludes. And he calls: "Now the prosecutor's office must check whether it is a Russian bribe."

A similar demand was put forward by his fellow party member, managing the affairs of the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag, Thorsten Frei. In his opinion, "the time has come for an independent investigation of the incomprehensible events connected with the Kremlin swamp in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern." From the pages of the tabloid newspaper Bild, the politician called on this federal land to "attract investigators from abroad in order to take advantage of all legal possibilities."

So, even if Nord Stream-2 itself is dead, the investigation of the events connected with its construction and possible offenders is far from over. And it may well lead to one or another political resignation.

Read also on Newsky "Turkey will resume negotiations on the membership of Sweden and Finland in NATO" and look at Boring Pence YouTube channel.

To always be up to date, subscribe to TG channel Newsky. We also recommend the current discussion of friends of Ukraine in North America on Rashkin Report YouTube channel.