From: "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" April 29, 1998
Scientology Power and Struggle for Profit in Moscow
One can make an impression with the word "profit" in dynamic Russia. It has the sound of a magical word in the ears of aspiring businessmen, no matter if they are selling grandmother's silver in the Ismailovo flea market at bargain-basement prices, or amassing a wealth of stocks. It is no wonder then, that even the new Premier, Sergei Kirijenko, is said to have taken a one-week seminar in 1995, when he was a bank director. However, this could turn out to be a hidden trap for the 35 year old political upstart. This is because the source of his training in Nishnij Novgorod was the Hubbard College, part of the Scientology sect. The suspicion stubbornly lingers that Kirijenko could have been caught in the net of the sect.
Kirijenko calls the report the "best April Fool's joke yet," but, because of the suspicion, nobody is laughing, especially not the Communists and Nationalists. Two weeks ago, the Duma had decided to form an investigation committee, but because of a "lack of time," so it is said, they were not able to collect "any definitive perspectives."
From Scientology's side, the governmental chief with his contacts to the powers of politics and business would certainly be a magnificent catch. This would be the case even if Kirijenko had not made himself capable of being blackmailed by the so-called auditing, translated freely by some as "brainwashing." Scientology extends far into Russia. Dianetics Centers are in more than 50 cities. Just as many companies, banks, and business complexes are said to be members of the Scientology business organization, WISE.
The [Scientology] organization, legal in Russia, seeks to extend its influence into banks, as well as into the arms and manufacturing industries. According to Alexander Dvorkin, professor for Church History at the Russian Orthodox University in Moscow, Scientologists have already "nested" in "dozens of mammoth industrial complexes" in Perm and Jekaterinburg. Perm could even be the first "Scientology city of a million people" in the world. The mayor, one of them, is reported to have said that he would need six months to accomplish that [goal].
Frank Nienhuysen