07.05.2008

An investigation has been launched into the alleged Stasi involvement of a
senior executive at the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom.

Felix Strehober, chief financial officer of Gazprom Germania, was under
investigation for his work as an undercover officer of the Stasi,
according to a Wednesday report in the German newspaper Die Welt.

Die Welt said Strehober, who was born in East Berlin, could be charged in
Cologne with perjury. Stehober had made a statutory declaration last year
declaring that he had never “been a salaried employee of the Ministry of
State Security (Stasi) or the equivalent.”

The prosecutor’s office in Cologne confirmed that Strehober is under
investigation.

More than 100 pages in official German archives showed that Strehober had
been an undercover officer for the Stasi, the hated East German police
notorious for its surveillance and imprisonment of ordinary Germans.

Gazprom not taking action

The German subsidiary of Gazprom, the world’s biggest gas company, said
the case was “an employee’s private matter.” A company spokesman said
Gazprom did not see any reason to take action, and added that Strehober
had placed the matter in the hands of a lawyer.

A statutory declaration is a legal affirmation equivalent to a statement
under a religious oath.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3317092,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

—

Lauren Goodrich
Director of Analysis
Senior Eurasia Analyst
Stratfor
Strategic Forecasting, Inc.
T: 512.744.4311
F: 512.744.4334
lauren.goodrich@stratfor.com
http://www.stratfor.com