Le tanker-“canard”: l’avocat Kirkland se fâche

Le tanker-“canard”: l’avocat Kirkland se fâche

Nous avons bien l’usage de toutes nos rubriques pour suivre les étonnantes péripéties de l’affaire UAC/Russie soumissionnant ou pas dans le marché des ravitailleurs en vol de l’USAF. Après notre commentaire de ce 23 mars 2010 dans notre Bloc-Notes, voici une nouvelle intéressante donnée par Defense News en date du 22 mars 2010.

Defense News a obtenu de l’avocat John Kirkland une lettre qu’il a expédiée à UAC/Russie le 21 mars 2010. Kirkland donne d’autres détails. Pour lui, l’affaire devait être lancée et il s’est passé quelque chose à Moscou ce week-end qui a conduit à son annulation. D’autres détails cités par Defense News se retrouvent dans le Seattle News cité dans notre commentaire.

«…UAC has followed that denial with a March 22 statement on their Web site: “UAC is not planning to take part in the tanker tender or set up a joint venture,” Alexey I. Fedorov, UAC president and chairman of its executive board, says. In the UAC statement, Fedorov denies knowing Kirkland. Kirkland's March 21 letter, however, paints a very different picture of the attorney's relationship with UAC.

»The denial, he said, “is directly contrary to everything my clients and I have been told by everyone in the Russian Federation,” Kirkland wrote in the letter. “As you know from my prior written communications to you over the last several months, we have been provided with multiple assurances – including via the attached official certified correspondence from UAC, and handwritten comments from Mr. Dmitriev – that the Joint Venture Cooperation Agreement for the KC-X Tanker Modernization Program would be executed shortly.”

»The letter is addressed to Sergei Ivanov, chairman of the board of UAC, and Federov, as well as two officials from Russia's Federal Service of Military Technical Cooperation, Mikhail Dmitriev and Alexander Shishkin.

»“We have been repeatedly advised that a presidential decree has been issued from President Dmitry Medvedev, and that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov, Mr. Ivanov and Mr. Dmitriev have all approved the project,” Kirkland's letter says.

»Kirkland wrote, “This weekend [March 20 and 21], I have been on calls” with Russian and UAC officials, including “a Russian general and Mr. Yuri Grudinin, director of regional aircraft directorate at UAC-Civil Aircraft.” During those calls, “they all confirmed again that the agreement would be signed this Monday morning,” March 22, he wrote.

»Kirkland provided a copy of that letter, along with several supporting documents, to Defense News. Kirkland also said he taped conference calls with Russian military and UAC officials… […]

»Asked March 22 whether he feels he has been lied to or duped, Kirkland wrote in an e-mail: “I can't imagine that's possible. What would be the point? Seems more likely that something changed over the weekend.”»

Kirkland cite également un message venant de Russie selon lequel EADS aurait offert $350.000 à UAC/Russie pour ne pas participer à la compétition. EADS a démenti l’information. Kirkland affirme également que le Pentagone et l’USAF ont été informés de l’intention de UAC/Russie d’établir une coopération avec une firme US, World Aviation Maintenance Company à Omaha, dans le Nebraska. Pas de commentaires, pour l’instant, du Pentagone…

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