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City MP responds to AQUIND corruption allegations

By 4 October 2021No Comments

Stephen Morgan MP has responded to recent reports that AQUIND owner Viktor Fedotov made millions from an allegedly corrupt Russian pipeline deal, saying it is ‘the final nail in the coffin’ for the project planned for the city.

The reports come from an investigation being led by the BBC Panorama team and The Guardian newspaper into the Pandora Papers, a leak of 11.9 million offshore files obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICJ).

The new revelations raises serious questions over whether a reported £72m Fedotov made through an allegedly corrupt company made its way to the heart of the British government and has influenced its decision to give the Russian-born AQUIND co-owner’s infrastructure project the green light or not.

Alexander Temerko, who is a friend of the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and a co-owner of AQUIND, has together with the company donated £1.1m to the Conservative Party.

Responding to reports, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said:

“This is the final nail in the coffin for AQUIND.

“I’ve repeatedly raised concerns about the company’s opaque finances and the directors’ cosy relationships with Conservative Ministers as part of wider objections to the project. It’s now clear these concerns are well founded.

“The Business Secretary must immediately stop AQUIND once and for all. Government should also get on with implementing the recommendations of the Russia report to ensure our country is protected from interference from foreign powers.”