Thomas Rowley
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Journalist, editor. Interested in 🏛️💵✊in Europe and beyond. Bylines: ICIJ, OCCRP, Finance Uncovered. Ex @opendemocracyru. Tip? Signal: terowley.84.
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Articles by Thomas Rowley
Kazakhstan alleges Big Oil corruption tainted $10.7 billion in contracts, delayed key oil project
The Kazakh government is claiming in a confidential arbitration that international oil giants awarded $10.7 billion in contracts at the Kashagan oil field which had been compromised by self-dealing or unjustified cost increases, or were won through bribery, multiple sources have told ICIJ.
Kazakhstan alleges Big Oil corruption tainted $10.7 billion in contracts, delayed key oil project
Alaska 2 hours ago ‘A Dying Community’: An Energy Crisis Worsened by the War Strains Alaska The New York Times - Anna Griffin • 2h One hundred miles south of the Arctic Circle, at the end of the Elliott Highway in the center of Alaska, Sabie Jervsjo has done everything she can to lower her energy bills.
Russia's defense giant quietly launches new cryptocurrency despite EU sanctions
A cryptocurrency associated with Russia's sprawling state defense corporation has quietly launched just as the European Union targets Russian crypto markets with further sanctions. Blockchain data reviewed by Kyiv Independent suggests that ruble token RubX, announced by Rostec last year, soft-launched on July 17. RubX later started offering swaps to the widely accepted dollar stablecoin Tether via Telegram on July 24.
Belarus eyes role as crypto banking hub, even as threat of sanctions lingers
New legislation in Belarus will permit the creation of “crypto banks” that will offer their clients the opportunity to make fiat and crypto transactions at the same institution. The law, which comes into force this month, has been lauded by Belarus’s fintech sector as an effort to meet demand for these hybrid services and cement Minsk’s place as a leading crypto, IT and finance destination for eastern Europe.
EXCLUSIVE: UK helped detect Russian tycoon’s $107M crypto war chest linked to Moldovan election interference
The move helped Moldova’s pro-EU side stem election interference by the Kremlin and the research obtained is being used in at least four ongoing prosecutions, reporter.london and partners can reveal. with permission from Context.ro CITY OF LONDON–A discreet Moldovan-British government operation exposed and disrupted a $107 million stablecoin slush fund used for election interference ahead of Moldova’s make-or-break 2025 election, it can be revealed.
EXCLUSIVE: Kremlin’s sanctioned crypto payment network has Budapest link
with permission from Context.ro LONDON–A multi-billion-dollar, supposedly “sanctions-proof” international payment system backed by the Kremlin and sanctioned by the West, has been associated with a business in downtown Budapest – staffed by a Latvian go-karting enthusiast – since December 2024.
EXCLUSIVE: Kremlin’s sanctioned crypto payment network has Budapest link
with permission from Context.ro LONDON–A multi-billion-dollar, supposedly “sanctions-proof” international payment system backed by the Kremlin and sanctioned by the West, has been associated with a business in downtown Budapest – staffed by a Latvian go-karting enthusiast – since December 2024.
EXCLUSIV Oligarhul moldovean a cărui rețea i-a susținut pe Simion și Georgescu și-a extins sistemul de plăți prin crypto în Ungaria
Conform unei prezentări apărute în pachetul de date scurs de la A7, angajații lui Șor le-au spus clienților că pot organiza plăți în euro în interiorul UE printr-o subsidiară ungară a unei companii de stat din Kârgâzstan. Aceeași prezentare spune că A7 a procesat peste 18,4 miliarde de dolari în mai multe valute și criptomonede între septembrie 2024 și aprilie 2025, însă această cifră nu a putut fi verificată independent.
‘Anti-democratic’: Georgian activists slam US oil firm for political lobbying
An email from the CEO of the oil firm, seen by reporter.london, implies that the company plans a return to the country after years of controversy. LONDON–Top Georgian opposition and civil society figures have criticised a US oil company for lobbying against international measures aimed at the country’s Georgian Dream party government, which is in the midst of a brutal crackdown on protesters and pro-Western groups, which has attracted UK sanctions earlier this year.
Fugitive Moldovan tycoon recruits top Russian bankers to run sanctions-busting crypto firm: leak
created with Grok AI CITY OF LONDON–Senior executives from Russia’s mainstream banking sector have joined an avowedly sanctions-proof crypto and payments firm at the heart of the Kremlin’s strategy to disrupt the West, leaked documents show.
Fugitive Moldovan tycoon recruits top Russian bankers to run sanctions-busting crypto firm: leak
CITY OF LONDON–Senior executives from Russia’s mainstream banking sector have joined an avowedly sanctions-proof crypto and payments firm at the heart of the Kremlin’s strategy to disrupt the West, leaked documents show.
Oligarhul fugar moldovean Ilan Șor a recrutat zeci de bancheri de top din Rusia
LONDRA – Bancheri cu experiență din cele mai mari instituții financiare ale Rusiei au fost angajați de fugarul Ilan Șor. Lucrează la noua sa companie, A7, care promite să ajute economia Federației Ruse să păcălească sistematic sancțiunile occidentale. Compania A7 este specializată în tranzacții cu criptomonede și plăți electronice transfrontaliere.
Hidden details of Putin’s private life show his ‘real worldview,’ new book claims
A St. Petersburg strip bar. A borrowed pied-a-terre for sexual tristes. A marriage stretched to its breaking point. Mob pals. And a plan to take control of Russia for the benefit of family and trusted friends. Some of the most sensitive areas of Vladimir Putin’s private life — and how they are intertwined with Russia’s political history — are reported in a new book by two of Russia’s best investigative journalists, Roman Badanin and Mikhail Rubin.
Behind closed doors, Kazakhstan challenges decades-old deal with $160 billion claim against Big Oil
Kazakhstan is claiming that a group of international oil companies have been taking a staggering 98% of oil revenue, after modest royalty payments, from the country’s massive Kashagan oil field, according to a confidential interim ruling in a $160 billion arbitration claim seen by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
One of NYC Mayor Eric Adams' alleged “straw donors” linked to energy mogul with high-level Russia ties
A New York luxury landlord named among the alleged “straw donors” in the criminal case against Mayor Eric Adams has ties to the Uzbek owner of a billion-dollar energy company once co-owned by a Kremlin-run bank.
Former George W. Bush aide says an Uzbek businessman hired him to lobby for U.S. sanctions on a local business rival
A U.S. political strategist says an Uzbek businessman asked him to lobby for sanctions against a huge cement manufacturer owned by a political and business rival over the business’s alleged Russia links. Stephen Payne, a top partner in Texas lobbying firm Linden Strategies, says that at his Uzbek client’s behest, he briefed Congressman Wesley Hunt, a Texas Republican, last year about possible sanctions violations by the Uzbek cement company, known as the United Cement Group.
Putin’s pipeline: How the Kremlin outmaneuvered Western oil companies to wrest control of vast flows of Kazakhstan’s crude
On a late August afternoon in 2021 the mooring master made a frantic call to a dispatcher at Russia’s largest port, Novorossiysk. “Stop! Stop! Stop loading tanker Minerva Symphony!” he shouted. But the damage had already been done. A floating platform used to load oil onto the Greek tanker had malfunctioned, unleashing a six-foot-high jet of oil into the Black Sea, three miles off the Russian coast.
Ukraine Court Finds Shell ‘Dishonest’ Over Russian Oligarch Deal
Sign up to the Behind the Headlines newsletter (and get a free copy of Byline Times in the post) A Ukrainian court has called Shell’s actions over its joint venture with a sanctioned Russian oligarch “dishonest” – and confiscated a slice of its business in Ukraine.
The Kremlin’s Creeping Nationalizations Hit Chelyabinsk Businesses
The Kremlin’s wartime campaign of forced nationalization has hit the Ural Mountains region of Chelyabinsk, a major industrial center, harder than most. Since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russian prosecutors have targeted 55 enterprises — metals, chemicals, agribusiness and even a major car dealership — for compulsory state takeover, according to figures from the RBC news website.
There is Something Deeply Soviet About Withholding Alexey Navalny’s Body – Byline Times
Subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive editorial emails from the Byline Times Team. Yuri Galanskov was the first of the Soviet dissidents to die in prison. A young man inspired by the Russian Futurist poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, Galanskov cut a dashing figure through Sixties Moscow as he sought to make the Soviet dream a reality. Those hopes were crushed at the end of the decade, and he wound up in prison after a widely publicised trial for handling “illegal literature”.
As Russia Targets Activists Helping Ukrainian Refugees, Future Aid Grows Uncertain
The recent arrests of two Russian volunteers helping Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war and living under occupation have thrown the future of this aid into uncertainty, activists and observers told The Moscow Times. Nadezhda Rossinskaya, also known as Nadin Geisner, was arrested on Feb.
Chartbook 205: Does Ukraine's war economy have a new platform in 2023?
Whilst Xi and Putin maneuver and Russian tactical nuclear weapons trundle towards Belarus, big Western money is flowing into defense stocks. As one private equity hawk commented: “Before it was seen as something to be ashamed of, so no one talked about investing in defence, but since the war in Ukraine, the dynamic has changed, and investors are bragging about it,” he said.
Hulp voor Oekraïne mag niet gepaard gaan met neoliberale voorwaarden
Oekraïne moet niet alleen de Russische agressie verslaan, maar zich ook verzetten tegen neoliberale economische hervormingen als het wil gedijen, zeiden Britse parlementsleden op een bijeenkomst over solidariteit met Oekraine..
Ukraine could abandon key labour principle
The government’s post-war reconstruction plans threaten a ‘Mad Max-style dystopia’, says Ukrainian labour lawyer. Draft plans for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction and fresh remarks by officials suggest that the country’s government intends to retreat from the principle of social dialogue at the policy level.
Ukraine to pass laws wrecking workers’ rights
Zero-hours contracts are set to be legalised and 70 per cent of the workforce exempted from workplace protections. The Ukrainian parliament has passed two new radical measures on labour liberalisation, prompting fears of Ukrainians losing workplace rights permanently as Russia’s war puts huge pressure on the country’s economy.
Ukraine Uses Russian Invasion To Wreck Workers’ Rights
Above Photo: Trade Unions Building in Kiev in September 2018 during reconstruction. (VoidWanderer, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons). Two new radical measures are prompting fears of Ukrainians losing workplace rights permanently as the war puts huge pressure on the country’s economy, Thomas Rowley and Serhiy Guz report. Note: This is a classic example of ‘shock doctrine’ – using a crisis to force through neoliberal policies.
Unions sound warning about UK-backed plan to rebuild Ukraine
This story originally appeared in openDemocracy on July 7, 2022. It is shared here with permission under a Creative Commons license. UK-backed plans to rebuild Ukraine after the war are “absolutely worthless” and will do nothing to protect workers, labour chiefs in the country have warned after the plans were presented this week. They say reconstruction plans for Ukraine should include a clear role for trade unions and provisions to improve conditions and train workers.
As Kazakhstan burns over inequality, the elite’s wealth is safe and sound in (...)
Home > 2022 > As Kazakhstan burns over inequality, the elite’s wealth is safe and sound in (...) by Thomas Rowley 6 January 2022 London is home to some £530m in luxury property owned by the country’s ruling class Protests in Kazakhstan started quietly this week. A sudden increase in the price of liquefied petroleum gas, popular as a secondary fuel for its low cost, sparked public meetings in towns [1] in western Kazakhstan, the home of the country’s natural resources sector.
KyivPost - Ukraine's Global Voice
Thomas Rowley is Lead Editor at openDemocracy, an independent global media organisation. Articles by Thomas Rowley View All Photo Cartoon Video X Dear reader, This is a friendly reminder that you should switch off your ad-blocker while visiting the Kyiv Post. We respect and understand your choice to avoid advertising, but most ad-blockers also prevent pages from fully loading, stop our site from functioning to its highest potential and block login, register functions and more.
Thomas Rowley: Why the kleptocracy debate lacks bite - and how to change it
Corruption Watch Oligarch Watch Pandora Papers Thomas Rowley: Why the kleptocracy debate lacks bite – and how to change it Published Oct. 20 at 5:37 pm An aerial view of London's Canary Wharf financial district as the sun rises over the River Thames in London on Nov. 4, 2020. Photo by AFP The Pandora Papers have exposed the UK’s role in hiding ill-gotten wealth. But we need to challenge the entire system that enables it Read more here.
The Pratasevich Case Is an Urgent Reminder That Europe Fails to Protect Exiles
It was just a few minutes before the Ryanair jet was set to cross into Lithuanian airspace when it diverted suddenly towards Minsk, the capital of Belarus. A sliver of time and space, of international and national jurisdictions, that decided the fate of one of the passengers: Raman Pratasevich, 26, journalist and co-founder of NEXTA, a popular and influential Belarusian opposition Telegram channel which rose to prominence in the wake of last year's tumultuous presidential elections.
Frontera spent $1 million on US lobbying while its Georgian workers went unpaid
US oil and gas company Frontera spent $1 million on lobbying in an attempt to sway an international arbitration case in Georgia, while many of its workers went unpaid, openDemocracy, OC Media, and Sludge report today. For years, the company promised Georgia and other Black Sea states their ‘energy independence’, and was originally founded by Bill White, a former US deputy secretary of energy, and the sons of a former US treasury secretary and the chair of US oil giant Conoco.
How Alexey Navalny changed Russian politics forever
Nine days ago, Alexey Navalny returned to Russia – and changed the country’s politics forever. The opposition leader had been in Germany since August 2020, recovering from what is now internationally recognised as an assassination attempt by the Kremlin (which President Vladimir Putin denies). But while there, he was far from idle.
Thomas Rowley: How Navalny changed Russian politics forever
Thomas Rowley: How Navalny changed Russian politics forever Published Jan. 27. Updated Jan. 27 at 9:18 pm Protesters march in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny in downtown Moscow on Jan. 23, 2021. Photo by AFP Having survived an assassination attempt, the opposition leader is now in a Moscow prison. But in many ways, his work is already done. Read more here.
Belarusian labour activists pressured as political crisis drags on
On August 26, 20 workers from Grodno Azot chemical plant were detained after walking through the city – the next day, the white-red-white Belarusian flag used by protesters was raised above the enterprise. Image from the NEXTA Telegram channel. When Dmitry Kudelevich made his escape from the Belarusian security services, it was via the bathroom window in a KGB office in Salihorsk.
How Could Age-Based 529 Portfolios Help You Save - Even In Volatile Markets
By Thomas Rowley, Director, Retirement and Education Strategies When it comes to college savings plans, not all portfolios are created equal. A reader recently asked, "With all the volatility in the market right now, I'm getting nervous that the money I saved for my kids' college education is now at risk. Should I move my balance into a money market fund until things improve?" As the parent of three college grads, I know this anxiety all too well.
Ukrainian workers battle controversial new labour code
Trade unionists block a road in the Luhansk Region in protest against Ukraine's proposed new labour code, 14 January, 2019. Photo (c): Pervaya Polosa. Used with permission.
Ukrainian manufacturers should rebuild Ukraine, report says
Ukrainian manufacturers can and should lead reconstruction efforts in the country when Russia's war ends, new research has concluded. A white paper published by USAID, the US international development agency, has found Ukraine's own building materials sector could provide up to 90% of the construction materials needed to rebuild the thousands of residential, non-residential and infrastructure sites destroyed by the Russian military.
Gorbachev’s legacy is lauded by the West. The reality is more complicated
It was in 1984, Mikhail Gorbachev recalled, that he met Margaret Thatcher at Chequers. The relationship between the pair has since been romanticised, with Thatcher famously referring to Gorbachev as "a man one could do business with". In his recollection of the trip, Gorbachev remembered the encounter as "open and friendly", adding: "nevertheless, our ideological differences immediately became apparent".
Karelia: a story of autocracy and resistance
For years, Karelia was a last holdout for Russia’s liberal Yabloko party. But a series of arrests has seen its supporters drummed out of this northern province. At 52, Svetlana Chechil, a member of Russia’s liberal Yabloko party and the former head of a municipality in Russia’s northwestern Karelia Republic, was the oldest inmate in the women’s ward of Penal Colony No. 9. Chechil was a sort of mother to the other inmates, teaching the younger women to knit, and tutting when they cursed.
London arbitration court ruled against Frontera, documents reveal
London-listed and US-based oil and gas company Frontera Resources lost its high-profile international arbitration case with Georgia after spending $1m on lobbying fees to pressure the country’s government, openDemocracy and OC Media report today. The confidential international arbitration decision shows how Frontera misled the public over their high-profile standoff with the Georgian Government.
Stopping the spin from Azerbaijan’s very special laundromat
We all know about Baku’s international efforts to whitewash criticism of human rights abuses. What makes these latest revelations so different? It’s been a busy last few weeks for Sofia’s City Prosecutor Office, which has launched an investigation into Kalin Mitrev, the Bulgarian representative to the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development. In Slovenia, a presidential candidate dropped out of the race.
Oops! How Moscow’s municipal election turned into a headache for city hall
The Russian opposition enjoyed an unexpectedly decent showing at the municipal council elections in Moscow last week. The Yabloko political party, having broken with its own traditions by participating under the umbrella of Dmitry Gudkov’s United Democrats coalition, secured 176 seats, while a further 108 were won by independents, the majority of which have been working together with Gudkov.
Russia’s wild decade: how memories of the 1990s are changing
A time of freedom and survival, memories of Russia’s first post-Soviet decade have come to divide people. The editors of a new collection on the 1990s share their thoughts. Check out the latest in our Unlikely Media series, which profiles independent (and independently-minded) publications from across the post-Soviet space. As part of this series, we interview editors who are trying to make space for alternative journalism, political commentary and reporting.
Russia’s gubernatorial elections marred by political pressure
Seventeen Russian regions went to the polls this week. Activists and politicians have, however, met with significant pressure and restrictions at polling stations. We continue our partnership with OVD-Info, an NGO that monitors politically-motivated arrests in Russia. Every Friday, we bring you the latest information on freedom of assembly.
Quiz: what kind of Kremlinologist are you?
They come in all shapes and sizes. Do you want to get paid for pontificating on Putin? Kremlinology might be for you! While it is usually described as the study of Russian politics and policy, Kremlinology has most recently made a comeback as a means of commenting on the Russian president, not to mention the conspiracies he may or may not be involved in. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? But before you jump into the fray, it's important to develop your own, distinct Kremlinologist style.
Dissent in Russia: a festival of disobedience?
What kind of freedom do the latest wave of protesters want? Has a new kind of Russian emerged since the collapse of the USSR? The conclusion of our interview with one of Russia’s leading sociologists, Lev Gudkov. For the last 28 years, The Levada Center has been one of Russia’s most important surveyors of public opinion, but in 2016 the Putin government, having no use for independent sociology, added it to its list of “foreign agents”.
Stop GOK: how residents of Chelyabinsk are resisting plans for a new copper plant
Twelve kilometres from the city of Chelyabinsk, the Russian Copper Company (RMK) is planning to build a new ore mining and enrichment plant. This Urals city, where local residents claim there’s already nothing to breathe, is protesting how it can. But so far, they haven’t been successful in stopping RMK’s advances.
“The Putinist majority could fast become anti-Putinist”
This interview originally appeared in Russian at Yuga.ru. An English translation by Adam Leeds was then published by LeftEast. We are grateful to the latter for their permission to republish it in full. How would you describe the ideology of the ruling regime in contemporary Russia? On what values rests that which some call “Putinism”? What is behind the facade of all this speech about “spiritual bonds” and “our glorious past”?
Feared for all the wrong reasons? The workings of Russia’s conservative soft power
Western pundits and policymakers often see Russian influence in terms of the hybrid threat. But the lens of soft power explains more in terms of Russia’s attraction for marginal politicians. In the past year there has been an increased fear over Russia’s influence across western states. A 2016 resolution by the European Parliament stressed the need to counter the anti-EU propaganda stemming from Russia.
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