Hearing in the Assembly, François Fillon rejects any Russian “interference” before the deputies

“No interference” Russian or “a penny of money” received, and a career in the private sector which “concerns only” him: the former Prime Minister François Fillon was heard Tuesday at the Assembly on his links with Moscow and its past presence on the boards of directors of Russian multinationals. The former right-wing candidate for the 2017 presidential election appeared before the commission of inquiry initiated by the National Rally (RN) and devoted to “political, economic and financial interference by foreign powers”.

Foreign interference encountered during his career

François Fillon first spoke of his “36 years of public life”, as deputy, minister or head of government from 2007 to 2012. “Foreign interference, yes, I encountered it, most of the time, they came from “a friendly and allied country called the United States. I was listened to with President Sarkozy for five years by the NSA”, the American National Security Agency, he said. “I was not directly affected by Russian interference,” he adds.

François Fillon then spoke about his retraining in the private sector and his presence for a time on the board of directors of the Russian companies Sibur (petrochemicals) and Zarubezhneft (hydrocarbons), before he resigned after the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army. The former head of government insisted on the private nature of his activities: “I lead my professional career as I see fit, if I want to sell rillettes on the Red Square, I will sell rillettes on the Red Square Red”.

Asked about the role of the French company Cifal

“All of this happened at the end of 2021. I attended a council meeting with the company Zarubezhneft” and a “videoconference meeting due to Covid from the company Sibur” before “my resignation”, “as soon as Ukraine was invaded,” he said. “I have never touched a penny of money from Russia in all my political and private life”, he assured, even if “I would naturally have been paid” if “I had continued” to sit on these two boards.

François Fillon was also questioned about the French company Cifal operating in Russia and targeted by a preliminary investigation by the national financial prosecutor’s office for suspicion of corruption of a foreign public official. According to a source familiar with the matter, Cifal was commissioned by the Congolese company Orion – headed by Lucien Ebata, special adviser to the President of Congo-Brazzaville Denis Sassou Nguesso – to find an investor in Russia to sell its shares in the MBK oil field to. congo.

With this in mind, the manager of Cifal Gilles Rémy called on François Fillon to put him in touch with a Russian businessman. In this contract, François Fillon was remunerated as a business contributor. No suspicion of corruption currently weighs on him, said this source familiar with the matter. “I am not concerned by the ongoing investigations, I worked for a company which is concerned by an investigation”, underlined François Fillon, who has “very great respect for Cifal and its leader”.

“I was convinced that President Putin would not take action” in Ukraine

On the geopolitical level, “I was wrong on one point, I readily admit it. I was convinced that President Putin would not take action” in Ukraine, “an absolute disaster”, said François Fillon. The former Prime Minister and ex-deputy of Sarthe returned to the Palais Bourbon almost a year after his conviction on appeal in the case of the fictitious jobs of his wife Pénélope to four years in prison, including one year firm, 375,000 euros fine and ten years of ineligibility. The couple had announced their intention to appeal.

The commission of inquiry into foreign interference, chaired by RN deputy Jean-Philippe Tanguy, was launched by Marine Le Pen’s group at the end of 2022 in an attempt to cut short accusations that the far-right party is an agent of the Russian influence in France. The other camps denounce a “diversion” of the National Rally.

Several politicians have already been interviewed. For Renaissance rapporteur Constance Le Grip, “the most salient point” of this commission “remains the strategy of influence and interference between Russia and the FN, which has become RN, with Marine Le Pen’s meeting at the Kremlin” before the 2017 presidential election. On Thursday, former RN MEP Jean-Luc Schaffhauser will be heard on the Russian loan of 9.4 million euros granted to Marine Le Pen’s party in 2014. The commissions he would have received make the subject of an investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office.