The following are excerpts from an interview with the Russian – Israeli tycoon Arcadi Gaydamak, published on November 27 by Haaretz daily. In this interview, Gaydamak stated he doesn't wish to become Israel's premier. This statement came despite recent public polls, which have indicated Gaydamak's rising popularity among Israeli voters.
Q: There are so many speculations as to the manner you became reach. Could you please shed a light on the method you accumulated your wealth?
A: Since 1972 I lived and worked in France and in the middle of the 80s I already became what was considered to be a so called "wealthy businessman". In 1987, for the first time, I came to the former Soviet Union, where I developed various commercial operations mainly dealing with the trade of raw materials (metals, oil).
Q: When exactly did you make your first million, and the million following it? What is your specialty, due to such you have accumulated so much money?
A: The volume of my trading/business operations at the end of the 80s was calculated to be in the region of many hundreds of millions of dollars. In the beginning of the 90s I began to work for the Angolan state oil company and I developed a variety of important financial operations linked with oil, which enabled the Angolan government to dramatically reinforce their position. The immediate consequences of these initiatives, was the end of the harsh civil war and I’m very proud to have contributed to the conclusion of this extremely severe war in Angola. The result is that since many years now, Angola is a peaceful region and I’m very proud to have brought my personal contribution to the establishment of peace and prosperity in Angola.
Early in the year 2000, I invested a few hundred million dollars in the purchase of shares of some Russian state oil and gas companies. Since 2001 onwards, the value of Russian stocks has doubled each year.
Q: What are your current active and passive sources of income around the world?
A: My main activities today are: Investments in the Russian stock exchange. In addition, I founded an agricultural company in Russia. This company has become the leader in supply of chicken eggs in Russia and being an agricultural company, it owns large properties of land (a few thousand hectares whereas a portion of this land was transformed to constructible). I operate a construction activity in Russia mainly in the Moscow area and in Bashkiria (over one million square meters of construction).
Q: What is the reason you choose not to acquire assets and business in Israel?
A: Given all the activities that I manage today and in light of my age, it is not reasonable that I should begin a new significant business activity in general.
Q: Assuming you shall be elected to the Israeli parliament, would you ready to fully disclose your wealth, your businesses and your sources of income?
A: I have no intention of running for the elections of the Israeli parliament.
Q: Recently you stated your intention to run for a public position in Israel as a MP.
A: In my recent public declarations I tried to attract the attention of the politicians and the Israeli public that being a politician is a huge responsibility towards the Jewish people. I don’t have any intentions of becoming Prime Minister but I know that if I wanted to, I could do so for sure and very easily.
Q: Did you receive any offers to join existing parties in the Israeli parliament?
A: All the political parties in Israel would like to see me join them because any political party or politician plus Gaydamak would mean a political majority.
Q: Do you feel that there are some people avoiding business with you due to your public image or reputation?
A: Generally, people like to do business with me and I have an excellent reputation in the business community.
Q: What is the nature of your so called “problems” in France?
A: The French authorities served as the main logistical provider and supporter of illegal rebel groups that fought against the legal entity of the Angolian State. As a result of the victory won by the legal authority of Angola over the rebel groups that France had supported, the French political and industrial influence in Angola in specific and in Africa in general was lost.
Since I am a person who contributed to the reinforcement of the government entity of Angola, the French authorities began to persecute me via their justice and tax authorities. In order to justify the illegal actions taken by the French authorities, they manipulated and made use of the media on a large scale. For example: even though I stopped all business activities in France from the year 1987, and given the fact that I pay taxes that are due to the country where my businesses are held, till this very day, the French authorities claim that I should pay my taxes in France. This is why a lawsuit was brought against me in France for non-payment of taxes. The media was responsible for spreading baseless and negative information about me. And nobody can confirm baseless information.
But the fact remains that in 1996-1997 I received many highest French awards – and this is the Truth.
Q: What is the nature of your legal problems in Israel?
A: Since the year 1998, I have begun to spend several months during the year in Israel. In the year 2000, the French authorities requested the Israeli law enforcement agencies to assist them in their harassment against me. The Israeli law enforcement authorities, instead of primarily verifying the allegations made against me by the French, immediately began to invest heavy logistical operations in the so called “Gaydamak case” and later on, since they needed to justify the heavy expenses paid, they resorted to falsifications and illegal activities, such as, for example: non-authorized telephone taping and leaking unsubstantiated and false information about me to the media.
Today, the government body of the State of Israel is exploiting this situation against me in an attempt to protect their own high ranking government positions with the goal of serving their own personal interests. In addition, they also aim at catering the interests of several of my business competitors with whom they maintain relationships of a personal and business nature.
Q: Where would we see you in 5 years from now?
A: Everything is decided by God.
