Matthias Warnig Explained

Matthias Warnig
Birth Name:Matthias Warnig
Birth Date:26 July 1955
Birth Place:Altdöbern, East Germany
Years Active:1991–present
Known For:Managing Director of Nord Stream AG

Matthias Warnig (born 26 July 1955) is a former East German Stasi officer and a Russia-based businessman who has worked closely with Vladimir Putin. He joined the Stasi, the secret police of communist East Germany, in 1974. During the Cold War he engaged in financial crimes by attempting to infiltrate and spy against banks in the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). After the Stasi was disbanded as a criminal organization as a result of the fall of Communism, he was left unemployed and moved to Russia, where he took part in business ventures in cooperation with Putin, whom he had already known as a Stasi officer.[1]

He is managing director (CEO) of Nord Stream AG, a company that is majority-owned by the Russian government and that is responsible for the construction and operation of the Nord Stream undersea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. Warnig is under personal sanctions in the United States over his ties to the Russian government and Putin, and what the US government considers to be a Russian geopolitical project. As of 2023 he is also under personal sanctions in the United Kingdom as a collaborator with the Putin regime who is "involved in destabilising Ukraine or undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine, or obtaining a benefit from or supporting the Government of Russia."[2]

Biography

He was born on 26 July 1955 in Altdöbern (Senftenberg), Lower Lusatia (Niederlausitz in German), East Germany.[3] At 18 years old, he was the secretary of the local Free German Youth (FDJ) which was the East German equivalent to Komsomol and, before graduating from school, he joined the Communist Party of the GDR (SED), but, instead of serving in the East German Army (NVA), he underwent six months of training in the Stasi guard regiment and often is referred to as Stasi from Brandenburg.[4] [5]

In 1974 Warnig started his career at the Stasi, the secret police of communist East Germany, and entered its foreign intelligence (HVA) on April 1, 1975.[4] [6] [7] [8] In September 1977, he began his studies in economics at the Berlin University of Economics, which is also known as the Bruno Leuschner School of Economics, and graduated with a degree in economics in 1981. He allegedly worked as the Deputy Chief of the Science and Technology Sector (STS) (German: Sektors Wissenschaft und Technik (SWT)), which is often referred to as industrial espionage or economic espionage (Russian: Wirtschaftsspionage) under in of the HVA, headed the work group Department 5 (Referat 5 / SWT) and attempted to obtain information from the West about materials technology, chemistry, electronics, physics and nuclear power.[9] [10] Warnig allegedly worked with KGB officer Vladimir Putin.[3] [11] [12] The two men collaborated on recruiting West German citizens for the KGB.[13] Warnig, however, has denied this by saying that they 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.[14] [15]

In the late 1970s, Warnig received five years of training on how to infiltrate banks in West Germany.[16]

Warning was in West Germany to gain "economic enlightenment" from such companies as BASF, Rheinbraun, Data Becker, Dresdner Bank, Thyssen, Krupp, and Deutsche Bank.[5]

Warnig had apparently spied on Dresdner Bank AG in West Germany for two years in the late 1980s before he began to work in the bank.[16]

Warnig was a resident of Düsseldorf from 1986 living in an apartment in the district of Bilk as a trade representative of the GDR.[17] [18]

He resigned as a major from the Stasi in 1989.

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.[19] The office was opened in 1991.[5] [20] [21] Warnig became chairman of the Board of Directors of Dresdner Bank ZAO, Dresdner Bank Russian's subsidiary. In 2004–05, the bank advised on the controversial forced sale of Yukos assets (see Yukos shareholders v. Russia).[13]

Warnig is on the board of directors of Bank Rossiya which is often referred to as "Putin's Wallet".[22]

During violent gang wars involving the Tambov Gang while it was taking control of St. Petersburg's energy trade in the 1990s, Maria Vorontsova and her sister Katerina Tikhonova were sent by their father Vladimir Putin, who feared for their safety, to Germany where their legal guardian was Warnig.[23] [24]

From 2012, Warnig led the supervisory board of Rusal but was forced to resign in 2018, when the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Rusal.[25] [26]

According to Warning's STASI personnel file (German: Kaderkarteikarte), Warning speaks French and Russian in addition to German.[3] [27] [28] [29]

Sanctions

Warnig and Nordstream AG were under US sanctions but the Biden administration lifted those in May 2021.[30] Sanctions were later reimposed on him on February 23, 2022, in response to the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[31]

Warnig was sanctioned by the UK government on 24 February 2023 in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War.[32]

References

Works cited

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Vladimir Putin's formative German years . BBC News . 27 March 2015 .
  2. Web site: Financial Sanctions Notice . UK Government . 26 February 2023.
  3. News: Muller . Sarah-Christian . Dawisha . Karen . Karen Dawisha . Appendices of Stasi Documents from Validmir Putin, Operation Luch and Matthias Warnig: The Secret KGB-Stasi Relationship . . 2014 . 8 April 2022 . 1 October 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141001202759/http://miamioh.edu/cas/_files/documents/havighurst/stasi-documents.pdf.
  4. News: Левинский . Александр (Levinsky, Alexander) . Малкова . Ирина (Malkova, Irina) . Игуменов . Валерий (Igumenov, Valery) . Как Маттиас Варниг стал самым надежным "экономистом" Путина . How Matthias Warnig became Putin's most reliable "economist" (page 0) . ru . . 28 August 2012 . 13 August 2024 . 13 August 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140813195801/http://www.forbes.ru/sobytiya/vlast/264619-soedinennye-shtazi-kak-mattias-varnig-stal-poslednim-drugom-vladimira-putina-n?page=0,0.
  5. News: Левинский . Александр (Levinsky, Alexander) . Малкова . Ирина (Malkova, Irina) . Игуменов . Валерий (Igumenov, Valery) . Как Маттиас Варниг стал самым надежным "экономистом" Путина . How Matthias Warnig became Putin's most reliable "economist" (page 1) . ru . . 28 August 2012 . 15 September 2023 . 15 September 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230915191503/https://www.forbes.ru/sobytiya/vlast/103069-kak-chekist-iz-gdr-stal-samym-nadezhnym-ekonomistom-putina-rassledovanie-forbe.
  6. News: Eine Stasi-Karriere: Der Altkanzler als Aufsichtsrat und die Stasi-Akte des deutschen Pipeline-Chefs Matthias Warnig, der mit ihm bei Putins Gazprom im Vorstand arbeitet . A Stasi Career: The former chancellor as a member of the supervisory board and the Stasi file of the German pipeline boss Matthias Warnig, who works with him on the board of Putin's Gazprom . de . Deutsche Landwirte . 15 December 2005 . 15 September 2023 . 3 October 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061003093817/http://www.deutsche-landwirte.de/archiv2005.htm.
  7. News: Васильев . Иван (Vasiliev, Ivan) . Соединенные Штази: как Маттиас Варниг стал последним другом Владимира Путина на Западе . United Stasi: how Matthias Warnig became Vladimir Putin's last friend in the West . ru . . 7 August 2014 . 5 April 2022.
  8. Book: Gieseke, Jens .

    de:Jens Gieseke

    . Wer war wer im Ministerium für Staatssicherheit? . Who was who in the Ministry for State Security? . de . MfS-Handbuch V/4, Berlin . 1998 . 8 April 2022.
  9. News: Das As: Wird Markus Wolf, der legendäre Spionagechef der DDR, bald abgelöst? . The Ace: Will Markus Wolf, the legendary spy chief of the GDR, soon be replaced? . de . . 31 January 1982 . 8 December 2023 . 8 December 2023 . https://archive.today/20231208235741/https://www.spiegel.de/politik/das-as-a-ee295de6-0002-0001-0000-000014340504.
  10. Web site: Wiedmann . Roland . Anatomie der Staatssicherheit: Geschichte . Struktur . Methoden. MfS-Handbuch. Die Organisationsstruktur des Ministeriums für Staatssicherheit 1989 . Anatomy of State Security: Story . Structure. Methods. MfS manual. The organizational structure of the Ministry of State Security 1989 . de . Der Bundesbeauftragte für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik Abteilung Bildung und Forschung (www.stasi-unterlagen-archiv.de) . Berlin . March 2018 . 8 December 2023 . 9 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231209022955/https://www.stasi-unterlagen-archiv.de/assets/bstu/de/Publikationen/MfS-HB_01_Organisationsstruktur-1989_Auflage_03_barrierearm.pdf . 978-3-942130-29-5. See pages 338-339 for A/X active measures, disinformation / »Aktive Maßnahmen«, Desinformation and pages 340-344 for Science and Technology Sector (STS) / Sektor Wissenschaft und Technik (SWT).
  11. Web site: Stasi Documents about Vladimir Putin . . November 2014 . 5 April 2022 . 22 November 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141122190438/http://miamioh.edu/cas/academics/centers/havighurst/cultural-academic-resources/putins-russia/statsi-landing/index.html.
  12. Web site: Дворец для Путина . Palace for Putin . ru . navalny.com . 5 April 2022.
  13. News: Kupchinsky . Roman . Roman Kupchinsky . Nord Stream, Matthias Warnig (codename "Arthur") and the Gazprom Lobby . Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 6 Issue: 114 . . 15 June 2009 . 31 March 2022. Alternate link
  14. News: The St. Petersburg Times. Report Links Putin to Dresdner. 2005-03-01. 2009-01-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20080613001602/http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=2858. 2008-06-13. dead.
  15. News: Nord Stream AG. Die Welt am Sonntag. Matthias Warnig: "In Russia you need a lot of patience". 2007-01-14. 2009-01-31.
  16. News: Crawford . David . Dresdner's Man in Russia: Former Stasi Agent Enjoys Rising Career as He Helps Bank Become a Major Force . . 26 April 2005 . 31 December 2019 . https://archive.today/20191231234407/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB111446508809216383.
  17. Web site: Прибыловский . Владимир (Pribylovsky, Vladimir) . Vladimir Pribylovsky . ВАРНИГ Матиас: ссылки и аннотации . WARNIG Mathias: references and annotations . ru . anticompromat.org . February 2016 . 19 September 2023 . 14 February 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160214192930/http://www.anticompromat.org/warnig/index.html.
  18. News: Heinen . Guido . Die Stasi-Akte des deutschen Pipeline-Chefs: Matthias Warnig arbeitete in einer der wichtigsten Abteilung des DDR-Ministeriums für Staatssicherheit . The Stasi file of the German pipeline boss: Matthias Warnig worked in one of the most important departments of the GDR Ministry for State Security . de . Die Welt (welt.de) . 14 December 2005 . 4 October 2023 . 13 February 2013 . https://archive.today/20130213012846/http://www.welt.de/print-welt/article184251/Die-Stasi-Akte-des-deutschen-Pipeline-Chefs.html.
  19. News: BNP-Paribas, Dresdner Will Split Up Their Eastern Europe Joint Ventures . . December 22, 2000 . August 9, 2023 . October 1, 2022 . https://archive.today/20221001193539/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/SB977469553598360551.
  20. Book: Macrakis, Kristie. Seduced by Secrets: Inside the Stasi's spy-tech world. 2014. Annapolis. Naval Institute Press. 978-1-59114-183-9.
  21. http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=2858 Report Links Putin to Dresdner
  22. News: Lee Myers . Steven . Becker . Jo . Yardley . Jim . Private Bank Fuels Fortunes of Putin's Inner Circle . . 27 September 2014 . 13 October 2023 . 13 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231013173124/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/28/world/europe/it-pays-to-be-putins-friend-.html.
  23. Web site: Влидимир Яковлев подозревает в Cвязях c Прганизованными Преступными Группировками: Организованные преступные группировки г. Санкт-Петербурга. 1993 - 1996 год . Vladimir Yakovlev is Suspected of Connections with Organized Criminal Groups: Organized criminal gangs in St. Petersburg. 1993 - 1996 . ru . Организованная Властная Группировка (ОВГ): Отечество-Вся Россия (ovg.ru) website . 1996 . 31 March 2022 . 2 September 2000 . https://web.archive.org/web/20000902203214/http://ovg.ru/links/org.html . dead .
  24. News: Chazan . Guy . Crawford . David . In From the Cold: A Friendship Forged in Spying Days Pays Dividends in Russia Today. Top Dresdener Banker's Ties Go Back to Days When They Were Agents . . 23 February 2005 . 31 March 2022 . 25 February 2005 . https://web.archive.org/web/20050225000000/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB110911748114361477. Alt URL Archive is in Russian and this archive#2 is in Russian also.
  25. News: Henry Meyer. Olga Tanas. Justin Sink. Why the U.S. Is Weighing Tougher Sanctions Against Russia Over Ukraine. 24 January 2022. The Washington Post. Bloomberg. 10 January 2022. en. In 2018, under Trump, another round of measures in response to Russia’s “malign activity around the globe” hit Deripaska’s United Co. Rusal hardest.
  26. News: Roman Goncharenko . Who is Nord Stream's Matthias Warnig, Putin's friend from East Germany?. 24 January 2022. Deutsche Welle. 25 January 2022. en. From 2012 to 2018, Warnig headed the supervisory board of the aluminum manufacturer RUSAL, but he had to give up this position after US sanctions were imposed on the company.
  27. News: Шлейнов . Роман (Shleynov,Roman) . СЛУЖЕБНЫЙ РОМАН: МЫ И МИР . LOVE AFFAIR AT WORK: WE AND THE WORLD . ru . . 12 December 2005 . 19 September 2023 . 5 September 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140905194900/http://www.novayagazeta.ru/society/25314.html. Alternate archive
  28. News: Шлейнов . Роман (Shleynov,Roman) . СЛУЖЕБНЫЙ РОМАН: За российский газ в Европе будет отвечать агент восточногерманской разведки ╚Штази╩ Маттиас Варниг. Этот выбор устроил агента КГБ в Восточной Германии Владимира Путина . OFFICE ROMANCE: For Russian gas in Europe will be responsible agent East German intelligence "Stasi" Matthias Warnig. This choice suited the KGB agent in Vostochny Vladimir Putin's Germany . ru . . 12 December 2005 . 19 September 2023 . 24 December 2005 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051224215627/https://2005.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2005/93n/n93n-s00.shtml. Alternate archive
  29. Web site: Kaderkarteikarte Warnig, Matthias . Personnel File for Matthias Warnig . de . Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung (HVA) (Stasi Main Directorate for Intelligence (HVA)) . 19 September 2023 . 26 July 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060726232809/http://2005.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2005/93n/t3big.jpg. Alternate archive
  30. News: Andrea Shalal. Timothy Gardner. Steve Holland. U.S. waives sanctions on Nord Stream 2 as Biden seeks to mend Europe ties. 16 November 2021. Reuters. 19 May 2021. en. The Biden administration waived sanctions on the company behind Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany and its chief executive [...] State Department report sent to Congress concluded that Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO, Matthias Warnig, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, engaged in sanctionable activity. But Blinken immediately waived those sanctions.
  31. Web site: Sanctioning NS2AG, Matthias Warnig, and NS2AG's Corporate Officers. United States Department of State. February 23, 2022. March 4, 2022.
  32. Web site: CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK . 16 April 2023.

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