One Hundred Million for Friendship with Azerbaijan Went into a 'Black Hole' - The Insider

Vladimir Putin abolished the presidential administration for interregional and cultural relations with foreign countries "in order to optimize the work of the presidential administration." In its place, a department for strategic partnership and cooperation will be created within the PA. The Kremlin was not successful in promoting so-called "soft power" in the countries of the former USSR, and this is not surprising: the structure's funds were siphoned off for pointless events attended by neighbors and relatives of employees, and the heads were constantly changing, as discovered by investigative journalists from The Insider project.

The department for interregional and cultural relations with foreign countries appeared in 2005, a year after the victory of the "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine. These events greatly frightened Putin, and he gave the command to create a department in the PA that could counter the emergence of "velvet" revolutions in neighboring countries and promote politicians and political parties loyal to the Kremlin.

In addition to Ukraine, the operational interests of the department included Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, as well as the Baltic states and the self-proclaimed Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The first head of this structure was the pro-government political strategist Modest Kolerov, but two years later he was fired, as was said, "for excessive radicalism in relations with neighboring states." More subtle methods of influence and penetration into the political elites of neighbors were needed, and Putin, as usual, placed his bets on people from the special services.

The office of the head of the department was taken by foreign intelligence officer Nikolay Tsvetkov, who had previously spied in Japan with the credentials of a "Komsomolskaya Pravda" journalist and worked part-time for the largest Japanese newspaper "Yomiuri Shimbun." Two years later, Tsvetkov was replaced by SVR Colonel Sergei Vinokurov. In June 2012, after the scandalous presidential elections in South Ossetia and Transnistria, Vinokurov was removed from office and he returned to the SVR.

Then, developing "cultural ties" with neighboring countries was entrusted to another career intelligence officer - Vladimir Chernov from the clan of Putin's friend Sergei Ivanov.

The planning department of the administration was headed by a person from the KGB-FSB, Valery Maximov; his main task was to control elections in neighboring countries. Colonel Maximov supervised the pro-Kremlin propagandist Sergei Mikheev.

In the countries of the former USSR, Mikheev was engaged in organizing the election campaigns of Moscow's protégés, who were known to be unelectable. For example, in 2020, on the eve of the parliamentary elections in Georgia, Chernov and Maximov convinced the department's curator, Dmitry Kozak, to bet on the "Alliance of Patriots of Georgia" (APG), which at its best times barely managed to get 5% of the voters' votes.

As documents show, more than $10 million was spent from the Russian budget to promote the APG, and Mikheev from Moscow secretly led the election headquarters. However, in the end, the "oppositionists" received only 3.14% of the votes.

Azerbaijan was under the control of GRU employee Valery Chernyshov, and he received so-called operational "objective summaries" on well-known people in the republic, including officials, military personnel, and public figures. Another GRU officer - Dmitry Avanesov - monitored the state of affairs in Armenia. The Insider has at its disposal reports from a "mole" in the Armenian government who reported to Avanesov on all movements of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (Pashinyan was referred to in the reports under the operational pseudonym "Beard").

Secret reports for Kozak on the state of affairs in neighboring countries, which he later presented to Putin, were also prepared in the depths of the department for cultural relations with foreign countries. For example, the Kremlin was greatly concerned about the almost complete absence of organizations in Azerbaijan that would promote Russian interests, in contrast to Turkey.

Here is an excerpt from a secret report from the "Azerbaijan" department to Kozak:

"It is advisable to strengthen the presence of Russian NGOs in Azerbaijan. There is a clear lack of real public organizations that would promote the Russian position. The revival of existing or the creation of new NGOs in Azerbaijan would, in the future, contribute to the creation of a 'soft power' tool for the exercise of Russian influence.

The main focus of the NGOs' work can be aimed at border territories, youth, student organizations, education, the Russian language, cultural projects, and journalism forums. The projects of the NGOs should not only end with big events, but should constantly 'permeate' Azerbaijani society from within and be heard in the mass media.

It is necessary to optimize and systematize theVladimir Putin abolished the presidential administration for interregional and cultural relations with foreign countries "in order to optimize the work of the presidential administration." In its place, a department for strategic partnership and cooperation will be created within the PA. The Kremlin was not successful in promoting so-called "soft power" in the countries of the former USSR, and this is not surprising: the structure's funds were siphoned off for pointless events attended by neighbors and relatives of employees, and the heads were constantly changing, as discovered by investigative journalists from The Insider project.

The department for interregional and cultural relations with foreign countries appeared in 2005, a year after the victory of the "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine. These events greatly frightened Putin, and he gave the command to create a department in the PA that could counter the emergence of "velvet" revolutions in neighboring countries and promote politicians and political parties loyal to the Kremlin.

In addition to Ukraine, the operational interests of the department included Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, as well as the Baltic states and the self-proclaimed Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The first head of this structure was the pro-government political strategist Modest Kolerov, but two years later he was fired, as was said, "for excessive radicalism in relations with neighboring states." More subtle methods of influence and penetration into the political elites of neighbors were needed, and Putin, as usual, placed his bets on people from the special services.

The office of the head of the department was taken by foreign intelligence officer Nikolay Tsvetkov, who had previously spied in Japan with the credentials of a "Komsomolskaya Pravda" journalist and worked part-time for the largest Japanese newspaper "Yomiuri Shimbun." Two years later, Tsvetkov was replaced by SVR Colonel Sergei Vinokurov. In June 2012, after the scandalous presidential elections in South Ossetia and Transnistria, Vinokurov was removed from office and he returned to the SVR.

Then, developing "cultural ties" with neighboring countries was entrusted to another career intelligence officer - Vladimir Chernov from the clan of Putin's friend Sergei Ivanov.

The planning department of the administration was headed by a person from the KGB-FSB, Valery Maximov; his main task was to control elections in neighboring countries. Colonel Maximov supervised the pro-Kremlin propagandist Sergei Mikheev.

In the countries of the former USSR, Mikheev was engaged in organizing the election campaigns of Moscow's protégés, who were known to be unelectable. For example, in 2020, on the eve of the parliamentary elections in Georgia, Chernov and Maximov convinced the department's curator, Dmitry Kozak, to bet on the "Alliance of Patriots of Georgia" (APG), which at its best times barely managed to get 5% of the voters' votes.

As documents show, more than $10 million was spent from the Russian budget to promote the APG, and Mikheev from Moscow secretly led the election headquarters. However, in the end, the "oppositionists" received only 3.14% of the votes.

Azerbaijan was under the control of GRU employee Valery Chernyshov, and he received so-called operational "objective summaries" on well-known people in the republic, including officials, military personnel, and public figures. Another GRU officer - Dmitry Avanesov - monitored the state of affairs in Armenia. The Insider has at its disposal reports from a "mole" in the Armenian government who reported to Avanesov on all movements of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (Pashinyan was referred to in the reports under the operational pseudonym "Beard").

Secret reports for Kozak on the state of affairs in neighboring countries, which he later presented to Putin, were also prepared in the depths of the department for cultural relations with foreign countries. For example, the Kremlin was greatly concerned about the almost complete absence of organizations in Azerbaijan that would promote Russian interests, in contrast to Turkey.

Here is an excerpt from a secret report from the "Azerbaijan" department to Kozak:

"It is advisable to strengthen the presence of Russian NGOs in Azerbaijan. There is a clear lack of real public organizations that would promote the Russian position. The revival of existing or the creation of new NGOs in Azerbaijan would, in the future, contribute to the creation of a 'soft power' tool for the exercise of Russian influence.

The main focus of the NGOs' work can be aimed at border territories, youth, student organizations, education, the Russian language, cultural projects, and journalism forums. The projects of the NGOs should not only end with big events, but should constantly 'permeate' Azerbaijani society from within and be heard in the mass media.

It is necessary to optimize and systematize thework with organizations of compatriots, and if necessary, to make a reshuffle among their heads."

Emissaries from Staraya Square (a reference to the Presidential Administration) frequently visited Azerbaijan, numerous seminars, round tables, conferences, and journalism schools were organized, and in Baku, a pompous exhibition was organized with money from the Russian budget, dedicated to the late father of the current president Ilham Aliyev: "Heydar Aliyev. Personality. Mission. Legacy."

"By my calculations, more than a hundred million dollars were poured into friendship with Azerbaijan, but everything went into a black hole. Again, a lot was done for show or in the spirit of balalaika diplomacy. And all the time they drank, drank, and drank," a former employee of the department told The Insider.

The "love affair" between Moscow and Baku ended in early 2025. First, the Russian authorities persistently concealed the details of the tragedy with the Azerbaijan Airlines plane, and then lied about the death from heart failure in Yekaterinburg of brothers Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, who were actually tortured during interrogations.

The reaction of the Azerbaijani authorities was not long in coming: in Baku, the pro-Kremlin propaganda mouthpiece "Sputnik" was harshly shut down and official events with the Russian side were reduced to a minimum.

Now, on the basis of the abolished department for cultural relations with foreign countries, a department for strategic partnership and cooperation (USPS) will be created, which will additionally include another liquidated structure - the department for cross-border cooperation. Putin gave three months for the organizational measures, and instead of Kozak, Sergei Kiriyenko will supervise the new PA unit.