Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky on the Russian connections of Mircea Geoană’s former adviser: It is shocking that NATO overlooks such things when appointing people to such high positions. And Romanian voters should take this into account when they vote.

Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky shared on his X account an investigation by Context.ro and an international media network regarding the partnership between Rareș Mănescu (former campaign head for Mircea Geoană) and a Russian businessman close to the Kremlin. „It is absolutely shocking that NATO overlooks such things when appointing people to such high positions. And Romanian voters should take this into account when they vote next month,” wrote Khodorkovsky, a former Russian oligarch now in exile, who is currently being pursued by Moscow authorities.

What Khodorkovsky wrote:

Mircea Geoană, NATO’s second-in-command, is running for the presidency of Romania and criticizes Putin. Nevertheless, his adviser’s Russian business partner has direct ties to the Kremlin.

It is absolutely shocking that NATO overlooks such things when appointing people to such high positions. And Romanian voters should consider this when they vote next month.

A NATO verification expert told the Dossier Center that Mănescu’s partnership with Kozlov was substantial enough that Geoană should have disclosed it to the alliance’s internal security services. However, such disclosure was never made.

One might think Geoană would be unpleasantly surprised to hear about these ties to Russia, given his public statements in 2022.

However, in 2009, Geoană was criticized for making secret visits to Moscow during a previous presidential campaign. The then-U.S. ambassador stated, „Geoană has always been ready to talk to the Russians.”

Context:

Rareș Mănescu, who coordinated Mircea Geoană’s campaign, is a business partner with a Russian propagandist who has visited Crimea at least ten times since the illegal annexation in 2014, according to an international investigation that includes Context.ro. Mănescu, the former mayor of Bucharest’s Sector 6, founded a company with a Russian businessman while he was still managing Geoană’s campaign during his tenure as NATO’s deputy secretary-general.

While he was part of Geoană’s campaign team, former Liberal Rareș Mănescu registered a company in Ilfov county alongside Aleksei Kozlov, an aquaculture expert and self-declared fishing fanatic. Kozlov also has a secret identity, which he used to spread propaganda for Russia.

Kozlov used the alias „Alex Krepchinsky,” a blogger who, after the 2014 invasion, posted pro-Russian materials. In 2017, under this identity, Kozlov posted a picture of Putin with the comment: „This man has never lost a battle in his life. He is the supreme commander of a country at war.”

Mănescu declined to respond to questions regarding his business partner’s propaganda activities in Ukraine. He briefly stated that he left Geoană’s campaign „five months ago,” around May.

The Romanian Trade Register recorded the first document to establish Kozlov and Mănescu’s company on May 31, according to official information obtained by Context.ro. The document was a request to check if the future company name, Beluga Ventures, was available.

In the Romanian company’s establishment file, there was also a report from Kozlov’s Estonian company’s board meeting dated April 24, 2024. His new business in Romania was to be registered using his Tallinn firm. The document that reached Romania mentioned that the business plan for Romania dated back to January 13, 2022. Neither Mănescu nor Kozlov wanted to clarify when they started doing business together or whether their relationship overlapped with Mănescu’s time as Geoană’s campaign manager.

An internal email from Geoană’s organization, obtained by reporters, identified Mănescu as the campaign coordinator for Bucharest. This email was dated April 5. An invitation to an internal campaign event shows Mănescu speaking to activists on April 13 about „progress in building the organizational structure and support networks.” Mănescu’s invitation was sent just 11 days before the board meeting minutes were drafted in Tallinn for Kozlov’s Russian company.

Russian exile magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky was placed on an international wanted list this year by Moscow authorities for his comments about the war in Ukraine. The exiled Russian magnate was added to the list for his statements about the war.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, also an opposition leader, was accused of spreading false information about the Russian military after making online comments regarding payments for Russian soldiers killed in the war in Ukraine.

A criminal case was opened against him in September of last year – an offense punishable by up to five years in prison, according to TASS (a major Russian state news agency).

Khodorkovsky already spent a decade in a Russian prison under charges widely seen as political retaliation for challenging Vladimir Putin’s regime in the early 2000s.

He was released from prison in 2013 after being pardoned by Putin.

Currently living in London, he has frequently criticized Putin’s war in Ukraine on his social media accounts.

In December of last year, Khodorkovsky stated that Russia is a „full-fledged totalitarian dictatorship” and that he seeks to „fight for a Russia governed by the rule of law and political pluralism.”