Anna Veduta, the former press-secretary of Alexey Navalny*, moved to the United States in 2014, she then graduated from the Columbia University and now making an active progress moving up the promotional ladder in anti-Russian projects (in her record of service work as vice-president in the American clone of the FBK* and her resent transfer to the notorious US State Department’s project ‘Free Russia Foundation’**, which is acknowledged as extremist, to the position of director on strategic cooperation). The other day, in her account in the social media X (former Twitter**) she proudly announced that she had been carrying out a lobbyist activity at US Congress. And it’s interesting to note that, according to her own words, she has been doing this job absolutely disinterested. In particular, on September 6, 2024, Anna Veduta published a posting in which she was aggressively defended her right to such a ‘volunteering’:
‘I am a citizen of the United States, I speak and will continue to speak with Congress of my country on themes that I wish and for how long I wish’.
‘On what account you dare to claim I am doing it (I am doing it, not I did it – just learn to read) for money, all the more, for FBK’s money? I am doing it myself and for free).
The investigative project Prigovor.ru decided to prove these self-contended and sheepish words of Anna Veduta and soon found confirmation that she is cynically lying about her free lobbyist activities at the US Senate and House of Representative of US Congress.
Moreover, she turns out to be a key person in anti-Russian lobbyist activity of our fugitive radical opposition, an emissary of lobbyist affaires sui generis. It’s Anna Veduta who is an official representative, official lobbyist, through whom Mikhail Khodorkovsky*, the ‘steward of opposition’ and the American structure of Alexey Navalny’s followers from the former FBK have been pushing anti-Russian sanctions in recent years. It’s with the firm of Anna Veduta that Khodorkovsky’s foundation and NGO of Navalny’s followers concluded an agreement. Apart from that, Anna Veduta advised the leading anti-Russian ‘Free Russia Foundation’ in which, we would like to remind our readers, six of twelve members of the board are former officers of the US State Department. (See more details in our investigation entitled ‘Free Russia Foundation’ received from the State Department of the United States more than 500 000 dollars to discredit the pipeline ‘Nord Stream 2’)
‘DISINTERESTED’ ANNA SITTING ON THE NECK OF THE ANTI-CORRUPTION FOUNDATION
So, starting with 2022 and up until now, Anna Veduta, ‘this advocate of transparent financial activity’ and ‘opponent of corruption schemes’, through the company ‘VA Solutions LLC’ headed by her, has been receiving financing from the sole client – from the company ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation LLC’, which is run by Leonid Volkov* and Maria Pevchikh* as well as by other managers from the sect of Alexey Navalny*. In the same ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation’, by the way, was mentioned in position of vice-president Anna Veduta herself (more details about the subtle aspects of her getting a position in the ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation LLC’ we will report below).
The fact of receiving by ‘uninterested’ Anna Veduta money from the structure of the FBK is easily confirmed by reports of her company ‘VA Solutions LLC’ for 2022, 2023 and 2024, where it is pointed out that the company is receiving finances only from one client – the company ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation Inc.’
Once in a quarter she received nothing less than 20 thousand dollars. It made 80 thousand dollars a year. The total volume of financing of the company owned by Anna Veduta from the American clone of the ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation’ during these years amounts to 170 000 dollars.
More detailed information confirming the anti-Russian lobbying activity of Anna Veduta can be seen in the quarterly reports that are present in data bases of US Senate, and we propose to readers to get acquainted with the recent available reports – for the first quarter of 2024 and for the second quarter of 2024.
Lobbying report of 19.07.2027. Registrant name – ‘VA Solutions LLC’, address – 1209 Orange Street, state DE, zip code 19801, USA
Contact name – Anna Veduta, tel. 6468892767, email [email protected]
Income — $20 000.
Specific lobbying issues – anti-corruption, sanctions regime, human rights, democracy, and rule of law internationally.
Lobbying activity – US Senate, US House of Representatives.
Name of each individual who acted as lobbyist in the issue area — Anna Veduta
Report for the second quarter of 2024 of Anna Veduta’s company – VA Solutions LLC, right side of the document
In the ‘Senate’ quarterly reports it is seen very clearly that Anna Veduta’s company receives each quarter 20 000 dollars for lobbying activity. And among general and pompous purposes, mentioned in the reports, is also itemized ‘sanctions regime’. We think that it would not be difficult for our readers to realize against what country fugitive Russophobes are lobbying variants of additional sanctions.
Separately, we would like to point out other projects of the US Federal government in which Anna Veduta took part together with the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
In 2022, when the West only just started to launch the sanctions campaign against Russia, Anna Veduta was organizer and speaker during hearings of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. During this event she together with her colleagues from the crowd of Alexey Navalny’s followers read out the report with the title ‘Putin’s bribetakers and warmongers’ in which she insisted on the necessity of adopting American sanctions with regard to 6 000 Russian Citizens.
Announce of the report of Veduta-Volkov*-Ashurkov* in which they tipped off 6 000 Russian citizens
A separate attention deserved the cooperation of Anna Veduta with the ‘steward of Russophobe opposition’ Mikhail Khodorkovsky*
The seasoned swindler Mikhail Khodorkovsky from long ago has been knocking the doors of US Congress. On his account, for instance, is the lobbying for the ‘Magnitsky Act’, adopted by American lawmakers in 2012. Besides, during a long period of time, the former dead of the oil company Yukos worked with well-known in Washington lobbyist companies, most often with ‘APCO Worldwide’. For instance, in 2005, it’s lobbyists from ‘ARCO’ that managed to motivated several influential senators and, as a result, an anti-Russian resolution was adopted in support of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his henchmen from Yukos. (See also the article ‘On this day Obama, McCain and Biden were working off dirty money of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’).
And suddenly, in 2020, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, for his dodgy lobbyist affaires started to use services of completely unknown firm ‘VA Solutions LLC’ headed by Anna Veduta, the former press-secretary of Alexey Navalny. At the first glance, the absence of logic is evident in such a cooperation – the recent graduate of the Columbia University didn’t have either experience, or reputation, or wide connections on the Capitol Hill in Washington. The explanation is simple – in return Anna Veduta had recommendations. Curators strongly recommended to Mikhail Khodorkovsky and to other ‘oppos’ to work with Congress through Anna Veduta.
WHY ANNA VEDUTA IS NOT REGISTERED IN THE USA AS FOREIGN AGENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FARA LAW?
In the archive of the publication ‘Foreign lobby report’ which at the time was carrying out monitoring of lobbyists working in the United States, has been preserved a record on how Mikhail Khodorkovsky had engaged Anna Veduta. To be more precise, the agreement with Anna Veduta was concluded by the company of the ex-oligarch ‘Human Rights Project Management’ (this is the renamed ‘Open Russia’).
In the interview to this publication the newly-sprung lobbyist Anna pronounced a remarkable phrase – ‘The purpose in my new role is to inform American society about actions of the autocratic and corrupt regime…’ And further: ‘Efforts to share information in the United States which presuppose contacts with state officers demand registration…’
It means that from the very first steps Anna Veduta, definitely realized the character both of her own activities and existence of legislative norms she had to stick to.
As me mentioned earlier, Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s* structures repeatedly contacted well-known American lobbyist companies like ‘ARCO’ and ‘ORION’ which pushed his anti-Russian interests in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, and all these firms, and this is important, without fail, were registered in the Lobbyist Registry according to the American law on foreign agents (FARA). But in case with Anna Veduta and her company such a registration is absent.
We would like to point out: the well-known companies lobbying interests of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, were registered under FARA as foreign agents. However, the firm of Anna Veduta ‘VA solutions LLC’, as well as Anna herself, representing in US Congress the same Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is not a foreign agent!
Naturally, the website Prigovor.ru decided to make out – whether Anna Veduta offends the strict American law on foreign agents, and once again we stumbled over the most striking example of double standards used in the West.
In the law on foreign agents there are paragraphs (they are mentioned in section exclusions of registration) which allow lobbyists of foreign structures not to register provided a lobbyist firm is registered in accordance with The Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) of 1995 and ‘and, upon that, lobbying is not carried out in the name of a foreign government or foreign political party” (Paragraph 22 U.S.C. § 613 (h); 28 C.F.R. § 5.307 of the FARA Act).
And a natural question arises – what is the difference between the well-known firms ‘ARCO’ and ‘ORION’ that represented interests of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and registered as foreign agents in the USA, and the known to nobody firm of Anna Veduta lobbying the same unchanged anti-Russian interests of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and not registered as foreign agent in the USA? FARA was switched off?
The investigative website Prigovor.ru has found out that special exception was made for Anna Veduta in order not to hang labels on her of a foreign agent in America, so her firm was registered as lobbyist in US agencies in accordance with The Lobbying Disclosure Act’ of 1995.
Anna Veduta’s firm was assigned the ‘number of registrant’ 44778
This situation with the use of legislative loopholes is best characterized with the phrase more often attributed to Franklin Roosevelt with regard to the Nicaraguan dictator Samosa: ‘This is a son of a bitch, bit this is our son of the bitch’.
This year Anna Veduta obtained the coveted American citizenship, and she was assigned to the new area of work at that where her self-acquired skills are needed – she was appointed to the post of director on strategic cooperation in the extremist ‘Free Russia Foundation’.
We would like to remind our readers what her new employers are known for. The ‘Free Russia Foundation’ is headed by Natalia Arno, the favorite student of the famous Russophobe senator John McCain. On the credit side of this foundation is organizing of the PR campaign directed at discrediting the pipeline ‘Nord Stream’ in Europe at the behest of the US State Department (see the investigation ‘Operation ‘Rethink Nord Stream 2. Half a million dollars for instigation’)
Screen of page 13 of the report of ‘Free Russia Foundation’ for 2019 on receiving 445 826 US dollars to discredit the ‘Nord Stream 2’ in Germany, France and the Netherlands
Apart from mentioned above lobbyist feats we would like to specify ‘outstanding’ employees of the ‘Free Russia Foundation’, in particular, Vladimir Kara-Murza* sentenced for high treason (see the article entitled ‘Retribution for treason. We explain what really Kara-Murza was locked for’)
Anna Veduta will feel very comfortable in her new collective as her direct boss Natalia Arno has been working closely with Mikhail Khodorkovsky for a long time (see the investigation ‘Necklace for State Department Fury. ‘Ark’ Reforum and Free Russia Foundation’)
We would like to notice separately that Mikhail Khodorkovsky through his structure ‘Human Rights Project Management’ sponsored not only the company of Anna Veduta ‘VA Solutions LLC’ but also financed the ‘Free Russia Foundation’, this time through another organization - ‘New Generation Europe Foundation’ (renamed to ‘Open Russia Foundation’** which is headed by his daughter Anastasia Khodorkovskaya and the daughter of his partner in Yukos Irina Nevzlina).
Change of the name ‘Open Russia Foundation’ to ‘Future of Russia Foundation’ and then to ‘New Generation Europe Foundation’
Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s ‘New Generation Europe Foundation’ transferred to the extremist ‘Free Russia Foundation’ more than $80 thousand in 2022
IN THE UNITED STATES, THEY LOOK THROUGH ANNA VEDUTA’A DODGY SCHEMES AND COMPANIES
Having carefully studied the work of Anna Veduta in her, as of today, previous place of employment in the American legal entity FBK* — namely, in the company ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation Inc.’, we paid attention to using by her and her colleagues of dodgy schemes, usual for them, although they are constantly trying to accuse others of involvement in such schemes.
In particular, during the registration of the ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation Inc.’s’ affiliates in various US states – in Massachusetts, Nevada, Louisiana, in District Columbia (town Washington) – Anna Veduta was announced as vice-president of the ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation Inc.’
Leading members of the ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation Inc.’ in various US states
Apart from that, she was officially announced as vice-president of the ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation Inc.’ during her address during hearings in the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2022.
Still, we would like to point out that in the reports that the company ‘Anti-Corruption Foundations Inc.’ presented to the American tax agency, Anna Veduta is not mentioned as designated person of the ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation Inc.’ in any published report – neither in 2021, nor in 2022. It means that US tax service seems not to be aware of that Anna Veduta was mentioned as vice-president of certain structures in American jurisdiction. And here we have to deal once more with notorious double standards! For Anna Veduta, a valuable specialist, for her special services, it is possible not to be mentioned in tax reports? Or she was not vice-president of the ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation Inc.’ – and by means of her phony position deceived both American registration agencies and society? Obviously, ‘it is something different’.
Page 7 of ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation Inc.’s report presented to the American tax service for the year 2021
And where is the ‘vice-president’ Anna Veduta? Page 7 of ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation Inc.’s report presented to the American tax service for the year 2022
‘RUBBER’ OFFICE IN THE US STATE DELAWARE
Apart from these strange stories with different legal entities and missing of vice-president Anna Veduta in tax reports of the ‘Anti-Corruption foundation Inc.’, there happened to be other peculiarities in the conduct of business of this active lady.
The website Prigovor.ru has checked the registration address of Anna Veduta’s firm ‘VA Solutions LLC’. In registration documents in US Congress is mentioned the following address – state Delaware, town Wilmington, Orange Street, building 1209.
Registration address of the company ‘VA Solutions LLC’
It is surprising, but in the town there is no Orange Street, but there is a street with is called North Orange Street (but this carelessness from the part of Anna Veduta in the report presented to US Congress went unnoticed), and there is indeed the building No 1209.
One may think that the clerk that was fulfilling the document, simply made a mistake by accident, but, according to the information about this address, the mistake could be made intentionally, as the address 1209, North Orange Street, Wilmington, Delaware is well known in the world of offshores and tax dodging. According to open sources, this address in the USA is the biggest registration place of companies which, using loopholes in legislature, are trying to avoid paying taxes. More than 285 000 companies are registered at this address, and it repeatedly has been evolved in scandalsconnected with obscure reporting, including that of the Clintons and Donald Trump.
The article about using the registration address of ‘VA Solutions LLC’ for tax dodging
It’s like this that a ‘simple’ graduate of the Moscow State University, and then of the Columbia University, can create a firm for lobbying in US Congress and start at once to receive financing amounting to hundreds of thousands dollars from the structures of the fugitive billionaire and structures of the Anti-Corruption Foundation with obscure financing.
Apart from that, she got around the legendary foreign agents Act FARA.
At the same time, her company is registered in the most popular ‘rubber’ address for tax dodging on the territory of the United States.
With all obscure aspects of this girl’s activities in the United States, these are all problems of American regulatory agencies.
But there is still a big question – why Anna Veduta, who has double Russian and American citizenships, is still not awarded with the title of foreign agent in Russia?
She has been cooperating with foreign agents and extremist organizations for many years, she is the key person in lobbying of anti-Russian sanctions in US Congress, she buys ‘personalized’ artillery shell and openly says about her personal financing of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Anna Veduta, without any hiding, takes part in collecting donations for the Ukrainian Armed Forces and is engaged in lobbyism in US Congress trying to enlarge arms deliveries to Ukraine about which she boastingly declares on her page in the social media X* (former ‘Twitter’). ‘The reason I help Ukrainian Armed Forces with donations, through lobbying in US Congress, is that more money will be allocated to Ukrainian military, as well as for purposes about which I cannot say publically, but after the war you will definitely know about it’.
According to Russian laws, such activity can expose one to criminal charges, and it is high time for Anna Veduta to ‘decorate’ with herself the official list of extremists, and she will definitely know about it.
Author: Alexander Zhelnin
See the Russian version at: «На содержании у ФБК**. Эмиссар грязных лоббистских дел Анна Ведута»
Also on this theme:
‘Russia trace’ leads to Washington’
The website Prigovor.ru has found out that collaborationists from ‘Free Russia Foundation’** were carrying out a subversive propaganda operation against ‘Nord Stream’ pipeline together with the American lobbyist firm ‘Yorktown Solutions LLC’ (13.02.2024)
‘The Operation ‘Rethink ‘Nord Stream 2’. Half a million dollars for instigation»
The website Prihovog.ru has found out that ‘Free Russia Foundation’ affiliated with Mikhail Khodorkovsky has received from the State Department of the United States more than 500 000 dollars to discredit the pipeline ‘Nord Stream 2’ (16.11.2023)
‘Necklace for State Department’s Fury: ‘Ark’, Reforum and Free Russia Foundation’
The website Prigovor.ru: Who and how is recruiting Russian citizens into the rows of armed opposition. Structures of Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a puppet theater, and his whole slapstick comedy is financed by the US State Department through funds of Natalia Arno. (21.11.2022)
‘Mikhail Khodorkovsky has financed the drivel of British analysts that ‘Nord Streams’ pipelines were blown up by Russian themselves’
The website Prigovor.ru has found out that the organization ‘Future of Russia Foundation’ has transferred 146 106 British pounds to the analytical center ‘Chatham House’ for the anti-Russia program ‘Russia and Eurasia’ (24.10.2022).
* — foreign agents; ** — extremist and undesirable organizations on the territory of the Russian Federation:
* * Khodorkovsky Mikhail Borisovich, born 26.06.1963 – on 20.05.2022 was acknowledged by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation as physical person fulfilling function of a foreign agent. Included in the Registry of foreign agents with No 389;
* Yulia Borisovna Navalnaya, born 24. 07.1976, on July 11, 2024, was included by the agency Rosfinmonitoring to the listof organizations and physical persons involved in extremist activities or terrorism with No 9639;
* Kasparov Garry Kimovich, born 13.04.1963, — on 20.05.2022 was acknowledged by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation as a physical person fulfilling functions of a foreign agent. Included in the Registry with No 388;
* Alexey Anatolyevich Navalny (born 04.06.1976 – died 16.02.2024) – on 25.01.2022 was included by Rosfinmonitoring in the list of physical persons connected with extremist activities or terrorism with No 8398;
** ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation’ (FBK) –was included in the registry of NKOs fulfilling functions of a foreign agent, by the decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation of 09.10.2019. The Organization was acknowledged as extremist;
** Free Russia Foundation, USA – organization whose activities were acknowledged as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation in accordance with the decision of the Office of the Prosecutor General of 28.07.2019. The Foundation was included on 09.10.2019 in the Registry of Foreign agents with No 195. Was acknowledged by the Moscow City Court as an extremist organization;
* Maria Pevchikh – 05.05.2023 was included in the Registry of foreign agents with No 419; on August 16, 2024, was included by the agency Rosfinmonitoring to the list of organizations and physical persons connected with extremist activity or terrorism;
* Ivan Zhdanov – 02.09.2022 was included in the Registry of foreign agents with No 372;
* Leonid Volkov – on 10.02.2021 he was sentenced in absentia for inducing minors to unlawful activity (Article 151.2, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). On 22.04.2023 was included in the Registry of foreign agents with No 372;
** ‘Otkrytaya Rossia’ (Open Russia), Great Britain – from 08.11.2017 ‘Human Rights Project Management’) organization whose activities was acknowledged as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation by the decision No 557 of the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation of 27.04.2017;
** ‘Open Russia’ (Public networking movement ‘Open Russia’, Great Britain), organization whose activities was acknowledged as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation by the decision No 556 of the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation of 27.04.2017;
* Vladimir Milov – on 06.05.2022, by the decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation was included in the registry of mass media fulfilling functions of a foreign agent. On 16.11.2023 Milov V.S. was found guilty (in absentia) of a crime under Article 207.3, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for disseminating false information about using the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. He was put on an international wanted list;
* Vladimir Kara-Murza – by the decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation of 22.04.2022 included into the registry of persons fulfilling functions of a foreign agent, with number 376;
** Meduza – Limited liability company (SIA) ‘Medusa Project’, Latvian Republic, by the decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation No 138 of 07.02.2023 was included in the list or organizations whose activities are undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation
