Footprints of “Putin’s chef” at events organized from Vilnius

Presenting himself as an expert on change, Vaiva Adomaitytė has been organizing discussion sessions for some time, focusing on current European policy issues, from the environment to the pandemic. Politicians and businessmen from different European countries are invited to the events.

Among the Lithuanian guests are former Deputy Minister of the Environment Justina Grigaravičienė and the recently appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Arnoldas Pranckevičius. The latter canceled his participation a couple of days before the event, but not because he suspected that something was wrong.

The events are focused on the European agenda, well-known and reputable speakers are invited, the organizers are a German business association and the company of V. Adomaityt. However, a joint study by The Daily Beast, the Dossier Center, the German broadcaster ARD, Delfi.ee, and the Siena Center for Investigative Journalism shows that Prigozhin’s environment is behind the scenes.

According to the leaked documents, Julia Afanasjeva, who worked directly with J.Prigožinas’ operations in Africa, kept quiet behind the events organized from Vilnius and dictated her agendas. Documents received by Dossier show that the event organizer working in Vilnius called J. Afanasjeva his “godmother”.

In an interview with the Delfi.ee journalist, V. Adomaitytė denied any contribution by J. Afanasjeva to his events. When asked to comment on the Dossier documents, the discussion organizer interrupted the interview.

Christmas invitation

Arnoldas Pranckevičius had to become something of a nail at the V.Adomaitytė event “Baltic Sea Region – Baltic Strategic Dialogue”. He received the invitation on December 24.

In a letter sent on Christmas Eve, the then head of the European Commission Representation in Vilnius was invited to read a report lasting several minutes. V.Adomaitytė introduced itself as an event organizer, working together with BWA, a German association, which presented itself as a business organization bringing together more than 600 members, which “seeks to expand its investments in the Baltic countries”.

The invitation came less than a week after the announcement of a new stage in the career of A.Pranckevičius. December 18 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that he will be one of the three deputy ministers selected by Gabrielius Landsbergis for his team.

While already working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the future Vice Minister agreed to read the report at the V. Adomaitytė event. She soon became the promotional face of the event. The leaked documents show that the surname of A. Pranckevičius was used extensively to invite other participants.

The surname of A.Pranckevičius can still be found in the publicly announced descriptions of the event. However, he did not attend the event.

When Siena contacted the deputy foreign minister, he assured her that her participation had been canceled on January 12. – Two days before the event.

“I remember being invited to speak about the EU recovery strategy, and I said who will be many famous Baltic and German politicians. Initially I agreed a priori, but then I canceled my participation,” said Pranckevičius.

According to him, the decision was conditioned by simple circumstances: it was the last week of his job in the EC Representation, at the end of this stage of his career and preparing to work in the G. Landsbergis team. A.Pranckevičius did not see anything suspicious either on the event agenda or on the invitation. And it would have been really difficult to see the “godmother” behind the scenes.

Better than a godfather

The official organizer of the event is V. Adomaitytė, a company founded in the UK by Admis Consultancy. The company was founded in 2017. August, V.Adomaitytė is indicated as its sole beneficiary.

2018-2020 the company paid a total of 170 thousand. dividends in pounds. The company had an employee all that time, and now the website it uses was only established in 2019 in the center.

Company documents submitted to the UK registry do not detail its sources of income or links to other organizations. The veil of secrecy is revealed by the documents received by Dossier.

For example, among the leaked documents, we find a contract with a social media consultant working in Russia, under which he agrees to maintain Admis Consultancy accounts on social media. The customer specified in the contract is not Vaiva Adomaitytė or your company, but Julija Afanasjeva.

Several leaked documents show that V. Adomaitytė communicated intensively with J. Afanasjeva both about the events and about his own biography. In one document, the change expert contacted J. Afanasjeva in a very familiar way and offered to call her “godmother,” which sounds better than “godfather.”

During an interview with a journalist from Delfi.ee, we showed them a copy of this document and the agreement on the management of Admis Consultancy profiles on social networks. V.Adomaitytė did not undertake to confirm or deny the authenticity of the documents. He ended the conversation with Delfi.ee reporter Holger Roonemaa and took photos of the papers placed on the table.

“Observers” in Africa and intercontinental trolls

So who is Yulia Afanasyeva and who associates her with Putin’s chef Prigozhin? To understand this, you need to delve into the organization under the simple, easy-to-remember name AFRIC, or Association for Free Research and International Cooperation. As the acronym implies, the organization focuses on the African continent and the processes that unfold there. It is an organization closely related to J.Prigožinas, controlled by an organization close to “Putin’s chef” in St. Petersburg.

A study published last fall by The Daily Beast and Dossier shows that AFRIC was conceived as a “network of influencers” to provide “expert ratings and opinions for the benefit of Russia.” AFRIC has been identified as a soft power tool intended to influence elections in African countries in favor of pro-Russian candidates.

AFRIC activities include election observation missions. According to The Daily Beast, this is how Europeans with racist or even neo-Nazi views found themselves on surveillance missions in Africa.

According to data compiled by an international team of journalists, Afanasjeva stood at the origins of AFRIC. And V. Adomaitytė also participated in the activities of this organization.

The Lithuanian exchange expert was one of the authors of the AFRIC report “Africa Vision”, she participated in at least one of the three AFRIC conferences in Berlin. participated in the Russia-Africa Forum in Sochi. The event was sponsored by Vladimir Putin.

In the official program, V. Adomaitytė is included in the discussion on “sovereignty and traditional values” as guarantors of the future of Africa. The discussion was moderated by Aleksandras Malkevičius, an actor featured on the event’s program as the director of the National Fund for the Protection of Values, but no less known for his connections to troll factories operating in Africa.

A. Malkevičius is associated with a large liars-spreading operation and a set of pages and accounts focused on African countries, which were removed by the Facebook administration in 2019. Putin’s chef J.Prigozhin is considered to be the main responsible for this operation. As of 2019, announced by CNN in November, AFRIC was one of the deleted Facebook accounts.

A.Malkevičius, like J.Prigožinis, is subject to US sanctions for interfering in presidential elections and spreading liars. It is claimed that A. Malkevičius acted through the USA Really portal, and the activity was indirectly financed by J. Prigožinas. Malkevičius said he had never spoken to “Putin’s chef” on CNN, but compared the US sanctions to a medal of honor.

V.Adomaitytė does not deny her relations with AFRIC, but categorically dissociates herself from the political nuances, that she did nothing of the kind.

“AFRIC, like BWA, was one of the clients. Carry out an analysis of the Africa 2040 strategy – (…) how the countries of the African Union can develop and maintain their sovereignty ”, explained V. Adomaitytė. “It was not about analyzing changes in the political situation or political aspects.”

When asked to comment on public information about AFRIC’s activities to safeguard Russia’s interests on the African continent, the interviewee stated that she was not aware of this and that she had worked as an “independent consultant.”

Expert sees soft power

Former Estonian foreign intelligence analyst Indrek Kannik, who was familiar with the information collected, said he had no doubts about the role of J.Prigožinas in this story.

“When you look [dalyvaujančių asmenų] biographies, the connection with Prigožinas is obvious, “he told The Daily Beast. According to him, this communication website should be of interest to the intelligence of the Baltic countries.

According to a person who knows well the kitchen of the January event organized by V. Adomaitytė and who asked not to reveal his identity, J. Afanasjeva directly adjusted the program of the event. He said he instructed not to touch on the issue of international security and to focus on the economy and ecology.

According to I. Kannik, such a strategy is reminiscent of soft power operations.

“It is noteworthy that they start with politically controversial issues like the European Green Course,” Kannik said. They start ‘softly’ and only after gaining public credibility and a relatively positive image do they tackle issues more relevant to the Kremlin, such as security, criticism of the Baltic states, (…) not to mention everything else related to Crimea. and Ukraine “.

“I don’t want to continue this conversation anymore”

We met with V. Adomaityte last week in the cooperation space in the center of Vilnius. He interacted with the Delfi.ee journalist through the Zoom platform.

After talking about the events she organized and the European agenda, the expert instead received questions about AFRIC, J. Afanasjev and J. Prrigožin.

“I think we are deviating from the agreed themes,” said V. Adomaitytė, who received a question about the role of J. Afanasjeva at his latest event.

Also in this case, he claimed that he did not have “such information” and said that he had worked with BWA, a German business organization presented as a partner at the event. “BWA approached me directly,” he said.

The interlocutor also assured not to contact Afanasyeva about the fact.

V.Adomaitytė repeated the statements about “question deviation” several times. The interlocutor emphasized that there were no political nuances or traces of the “Russian political agenda” at the event.

After being asked to evaluate the documents showing his connection to J. Afanasjeva, V. Adomaitytė interrupted the interview. “I think I’ll end this conversation because I don’t feel right continuing it,” said the head of Admis Consultancy.

After interrupting a video call with a journalist from Delfi.ee, V. Adomaitytė took photos of the documents and requested a translation of the text of the social media services agreement written in Russian. When asked if he would like to extend the conversation, V. Adomaitytė replied in the negative.

The publication was prepared in collaboration with The Daily Beast, Dossier, ARD and Delfi.ee.