seats, interacting vividly, and “conquering” lobsters together. The world was tired of the cold war, of confrontation and the arms race. The world needed a new commonwealth formula – one that would open borders, enable joint trips to the Moon, and discover new roads to space. A new generation – a generation of peace and brotherhood – was beginning to rise from behind the curtain, separating countries and nations, and there was no force that could stop it.
Elena
… Stas paced back and forth on the rug in the yacht salon and continued talking to Nikita.
“As I understood from my last conversation with Andrzej, the Commander responded to Mossad regarding my matter. I think that next week I will be able to pay for the cameras and pick them up.”
“This time, please send them through China: things are being reorganized now in Switzerland. I left the information for you at the ‘post office’. Next week, money will be transferred to your account in ABN-Amro bank. The higher-ups are pressing me: the machines are ready for tests, now only cameras are missing.”
“I don’t see any problem here. As soon as we receive them they will be sent out.”
“Excellent. Well, I think this issue has been resolved. Now – a different matter. Mister Kahn, do you remember how in Switzerland, in the Nord Stream office, I introduced you to former Chancellor of Germany, Gerhard Schröder, and the Russian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Kevorkian?”
“Of course I remember. Mister Kevorkian asked me then for assistance in the naturalization in Holland of the family of Missis Elena Volkova – or ‘mommy”’, as all bankers in Russia call her.”
“Exactly. It turns out that behind this family – Volkova and her husband Igor Kravchenko – stand very powerful peoplein Russia: Moscow’s Mayor Yury Luzhkov, his wife Yelena Baturina, and the President of the Bank of Moscow, Andrei Borodin”.
“It can’t be! Nikita, why didn’t you tell me right away? I have no desire to participate in laundering Russian businessmen’s money”.
“Don’t worry, everything is legitimate. Andrei Borodin owns 20.32 % of the Bank of Moscow shares; Elena Volkova – 0.00012 %. And Mr. Luzhkov and Yelena Baturina together own – by the way, officially – the whole Bank of Moscow. 90 % of the money in this bank belongs to Luzhkov’s wife”, continued Nikita, petting the head of a huge Central Asian Shepard, lying at his feet. “Once Yusufov Sr. told me: ‘Why look for a credit? Buy a bank – and all your problems will be solved.’ And now he is the one who is preparing the Bank of Moscow for reacquisition for the ‘Chief’ through Yusufov Jr. This is why I am doing everything I can to assist the current bank’s management in transferring the assets abroad – so that when the time comes, it will be easier to negotiate with Borodin.”
“But you, certainly, know very well: shares or no shares – they are stripping the budget and credit money”.
“Mr. Kahn, you should not worry about the Russian budget: everything will be as clean as a whistle. Our ‘Bureau’ checked into ‘mommy’, her husband and her son, Alexei Volkov: everything there is pretty normal. She, a typical straight-A student from a good Moscow family, met Igor Kravchenko in 1995 and they became close very soon. Igor saw right away all the opportunities she had, working for Borodin – and got his claws into ‘mommy’. Borodin’s bank lends us money for our defense industry projects. Andrei Borodin asked us to naturalize the Volkova-Kravchenko family in Holland. They have been trying to obtain legal status there for years, but to no avail. Finally, by pure luck, they got connected with you”.
“Can you be that blind? These are nothing but preparations to move the money abroad!”
“Our ‘Bureau’ owns all the information. We are very well aware that two of Borodin’s vice presidents – Dmitry Akulinin and Elena Volkova (by the way, this is her maiden name: when she married Kravchenko, her last name was Furmanova – as in the first marriage) – are busy moving finances to offshore accounts. ‘Mommy’ has a personal contact with one of the bankers in the EFG-Bank in Geneva. Several years ago, the Bank of Moscow’s management did him some favor in Russia. And now Volkova and Borodin’s money flow to Switzerland, to an offshore account. Anyways, we have an order from above: ‘Wait for now. We need Andrei Borodin.’”
“All right. But please keep in mind that I don’t want to be a part of your Russian ‘business’. In February, we filed all of the documents for Volkova’s family. I hope they will get their legal status in Holland by May.”
By 9 in the morning, the office would start coming to life. It was located in the old two-story mansion, built in a Dutch style and decorated with traditional tile. The building stood off the road, surrounded by century-old Canadian maples. The interior design of the office was predominantly nautical-themed. A spacious lobby housed a real marine bar with a counter for beer and wine. The bar walls were decorated with ropes tied in intricate boating knots, various navigational instruments, and marine gear. In the center of the bar area, there was a huge wooden table that had seen many meetings and conferences. Kahn’s firm occupied the whole second floor of the building. The offices of its employees were on both sides of a long and wide hallway. In the very end of the hallway was Kahn’s office. Airy and comfortable, it looked like a room in a maritime museum. Its walls were covered with beautiful sea pieces: a sunset over the Pacific Ocean, ships in a faraway northern harbor… Numerous models of ships from different times, beginning with the 11th century, lined up against the walls: they seemed to be ready to plough through the waves of the North Sea. Kahn loved these early mornings in peace and quiet of his “ship”: his best ideas and creative thoughts came to him there. And it seemed to him that he was young again and commanded his fleet, standing on the captain’s bridge. The rain drizzling endlessly outside – a gift from Gulf Stream – was an organic part of the Netherlands, as familiar to its citizens as a bicycle. Wet, leafless maple branches brushed at times against the balcony, as if reminding Kahn about the coming winter and the overcast sky until spring. Despite that, he was full of energy and ready to work – perhaps, due to fresh air or to the special atmosphere of this place.
As usual, his accountant Svetlana was the first to come.
“Mr. Kahn! I did not expect to see you in the office today: weren’t you supposed to be in Dubai?”
She sat on the chair across from Stas.
“I managed to visit Spain and Poland on the weekend. Nikita sent his plane to pick me up.”
“Mr. Kahn, please accept my condolences on the loss of your Polish friend, Admiral Kalinovsky. I learned about it yesterday, from CNN.”
“Thank you, my dear.” Kahn got up, poured himself a glass of water and felt a lump in his throat.
“Do you think you will be called to duty in the Polish Navy again?” Svetlana asked anxiously.
“No, I have fulfilled my duty, although I will be in reserve until the end of my days. I’m making way for the new generation. Svetlana, I will go now to the customs office: I’ll be back after lunch.”
“All right, and I will work on balance sheet. By the way, one million five hundred seventy five thousand US dollars have been just posted to our account. As I understand, it’s the payment for the cameras from Israel.”
Tajikistan
November, 2009. Moscow
Standing early in the morning at the window of his office on the fifth floor, Borodin was looking at Moscow. From the street, he could hear shouts in an unfamiliar language: Tajik
