A dozen or so private jets stood under the blazing sun parked on the tarmac of the almost humble Tivat International Airport; a sure sign that a special event was taking place in the small newly independent state of Montenegro.
Once the heat of the day retreated, guests sipping their evening cocktails on the poolside terrace of the luxurious Splendid Spa Resort, situated in the heart of Bečići, just one mile from Budva’s Old Town, they could admire Tarasov’s yacht anchored in the bay, its lights twinkling against the star studded sky.
Suddenly a rocket curved up into the dark, bursting in a spectacular shower of light announcing the start of the evening’s festivities; a spectacular display of fireworks. The oligarch’s guests paused to watch the brilliant figures traced in the night sky as waiters filled their glasses with champagne; amongst them were crowned heads, billionaires, bankers and discreet political figures.
Ostensibly the event was to celebrate Tarasov’s birthday, his fiftieth, and Montenegro had not been chosen by chance. The small nation had only recently gained independence from the remaining rump of the forgotten Yugoslavia. The extravagant celebration was part of a strategy to put the small country on the society map, not only transforming into a tax haven and select destination for jetsetters, but also an exclusive fife for the very rich.
More discretely, given the politically correct need for crisis low-profile, Sergei Tarasov and Michael Fitzwilliams were celebrating the birth of their new banking empire. The newly created INI Banking Corporation, with its headquarters at Saint Mary Axe, now spanned the world: London, Amsterdam, Moscow, Hong Kong and of course the Caribbean; managing property, energy and commodity investment funds.
For Fitzwilliams it was a personal triumph; he with his family controlled a decisive share in the new structure. The banker was no mere figurehead; he was an ‘oligarch’ in his own right. In less than a decade he had expanded his banking empire from a middling Irish bank, providing loans and mortgages in the Republic of Ireland and the UK, to a powerful transnational financial institution present on three continents.
Amongst the guests was Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, one of the sons of the enigmatic Libyan leader. Saif was one of the major investors in Marina Montenegro, for which INI was to lead a banking pool that would invest half a billion euros destined to transform it into the finest leisure port in the Adriatic if not the Mediterranean.
With billions to invest from the oil and gas revenues of his country, the Libyan had become one of the small country’s key investors. After decades as an international pariah, Libya had gained a veneer of respectability. Amongst his friends, Saif now counted a number of powerful personalities, including English lords, who discreetly pulled strings at Westminster and in the City of London. The Libyan even counted Tony Blair as a family friend, and had been seen in Corfu with Lord Mandelson along with one of the Rothschilds.
Montenegro had become a fashionable spot for the very rich. Only two months before Saif Gaddafi had thrown his own very discrete and private party in Budva to celebrate his thirty seventh birthday. His list of guest had included Prince Albert Rainier of Monaco, Oleg Derispaska the Russian oligarch, Peter Munk, Polish billionaire Yuri Kovalchuk, Lakshmi Mittal the India steel billionaire, Austrian investor Martin Schlaff, and Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.
On a visit to London, Saif, surfing on Libya’s wealth and newly found place amongst nations, was a guest of the Duke of York at Buckingham Palace. At another reception at the LSE he was praised by a professor in glowing terms: ‘I’ve come to know Saif as someone who looks to democracy, civil society and deep liberal values for the core of his inspiration.’
Saif Gaddafi responded in a risible speech telling his listeners: ‘In theory Libya is the most democratic state in the world.’
Chapter 60 GOOD NEWS
The Plan Page 60