Putin, Ukraine and Royal Dutch Shell

Sir Henri was fanatically anti-Soviet as a result of the confiscation of Shell oil fields in Russia. Might be best if Ben does not mention this past history to his new chum, Vlad the Bad, who is rather keen to restore the Soviet empire. “Had Putin asked ‘and now you kiss my ass’, I am sure van Beurden would have complied.”

18 April 2014

By John Donovan

There are a number of news reports about a meeting earlier today between President Putin and Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden, in which the sensitive subject of Ukraine was discussed.

Interesting to note that the same subject was also discussed at a high level by Shell in the 1930’s, on that occasion with Hitler, who like Putin, also had territorial ambitions. 

Printed below are extracts from a book, “Hitler As Frankenstein” by Johannes Steel (born Herbert Stahl,1908-1988), the son of a German-Dutch landowner. When the Nazis took power in Germany he fled to the USA working as a journalist for the New York Post. Because of his prescience, which included predicting World War 2, he became widely followed as a popular radio commentator in the U.S. during the war. (Information taken from Wikipedia)

The “Deterding” mentioned in the extracts was Sir Henri Deterding, the founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group and its undisputed leader for many years. He became an ardent Nazis. 

From pages 88 & 89 of “Hitler As Frankenstein”

Dr. George Bell was present at several of these conferences as a delegate of Hitler and Deterding jointly. For Dr. Rosenberg, who at that time had been just two years naturalised in Germany, had become Hitler’s expert in foreign affairs, and he had advised Deterding, through the medium of Dr. George Bell, who brought about the contact, as to the attitude the Hitlerites would take in regard to the question of the Polish Corridor and the Soviet Ukraine, where there are rich supplies of oil. Rosenberg suggested to Deterding, through Bell, that at an appropriate moment unrest should be fostered in the Ukraine, and an attempt be made with the aid of Germany to wrest the Soviet Ukraine away from the Soviet Union and give it back to Poland, to whom it had belonged at the time of the ancient Polish kingdom. Germany in return should receive the Corridor back, so satisfying the Hitlerites’ nationalistic ambitions, and Sir Henri Deterding should be rewarded with mineral concessions for his efforts to persuade responsible British quarters to give tacit support to such an undertaking. Anyway, from the day of the Ukrainian Conference, Deterding has been supporting Hitler with considerable sums of money (which found their way into the Hitler exchequer through Dr. Bell), hoping that in case the Hitlerites should come into power, they would pursue at any rate an anti-Soviet policy. 

Extracts end.

Sir Henri was fanatically anti-Soviet as a result of the confiscation of Shell oil fields in Russia. Might be best if Ben does not mention this past history to his new chum, Vlad the Bad, who is rather keen to restore the Soviet empire and like Hitler, is delighted to have the fawning totally unprincipled support of Shell.

Shell’s collaboration is being seen as a hugely important event to be fully exploited for propaganda purposes by Putin. View this Russian video clip.

ARTICLE ENDS

Posting on Shell Blog by shellwaarbenjijnu on 2014/04/19 at 09:04: “Shell welkom in Rusland”: van Beurden – shame on you!

van Beurden – shame on you! The front page of the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf shows you bowing your head to Putin while he looks straight ahead. “Shell welkom in Rusland”. Where is your pride man? Have you forgotten the humiliation heaped on Shell over Sakhalin based on trumped up charges of environmental vandalism? All originated by a ruthless kleptocrat who at the same time willfully ignores the environmental catastrophy of nuclear waste leaking from abandoned former Soviet navy submarines rotting away in the arctic. Putin is so bent he cannot lie straight in bed at night and you bow your head to him? Shame, shame, shame.

Comment by John Zwiebel on 2014/04/19

Do we need any other evidence showing the betrayal of humanity by capitalists?

Comment posted by Ian Blauu on Apr 19th, 2014 

Shellwaarbenjijnu, Shell is a business. Ben has to keep the share price high. Exiting Ukraine’s unconventional would be the right thing to do too.

Comment received from an old EP hand 2014/04/19

Shellwaarbenjijnu: completely agree, I saw him on TV, ‘Thank you very much, Mr President, for being able to see me here today. It seems that you know our business in Russia as well as I do.’ Also follow this link  http://eng.kremlin.ru/news/7039 for the full text. I am almost certain I heard him say two or three times ‘thank you Mr President’. This grovelling made my stomach turn. Had Putin asked ‘and now you kiss my ass’, I am sure van Beurden would have complied. Anything for the shareholder! Somehow I cannot see the boss of Exxon behave like this!

Further comment posted by shellwaarbenjijnu on 2014/04/19

@Ian Blauu – I was not implying Shell should exit Russia. My observation relates to van Beurden’s body language. There is no requirement in Dutch / European / Russian culture to bow unless you are acknowledging a “superior” which is akin to groveling. The CEO of Shell does not have to grovel. He is at the top of an energy company which by any measure is the superior of anything Russian. As for Putin knowing Shell’s business better than van Beurden – of course. Van Beurden has to rely on reports from Shell staff which will have been spun and shaped to convey the message “everything is in great shape”. Putin will have his spies everywhere feeding him the undiluted truth.

Further comment by Ian Blauu on 2014/04/19 at 16:15

Shellwaarbenjijnu, you know very well Shell has to rely on Sakhalin In Russia, China, Nigeria, and few others to continue to fund the Shell pension in Holland. By the way , ” Bowing” means respect in many countries.

Further comment from an Old EP hand on 2014/04/19 at 22:10

Ian Blauu: small correction, the Dutch pensionfund is handled by Shell Nederland and the bulk of the money comes from the NAM and more specific: Groningen. The Dutch pensioners are therefore quite safe for the next 20 years or so.

I prefer a CEO who keeps up the standards of decency and technical superiority. In words and actions. Grovelling to the dictators of the world is just not on! Jeroen v.d. Veer did the same when Putin stole half the Shell share. He thanked him for that. And if you behave like a serf you get treated like a serf!

I fear van Beurden has the wrong advisors in this matter. Probably americans, they get it wrong all the time!

RELATED ARTICLES: 

Shell stokes tensions by pressing ties with President Putin: The Times 19 April 2014

Extract

While urgent international talks were under way in Geneva in an attempt to defuse tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the boss of Shell visited the Russian leader’s official residence outside Moscow yesterday to discuss expanding the group’s $20 billion Sakhalin oi and gas venture in Siberia.

Shell committed to Russia expansion despite sanctions Reuters article 18 April 2014

Shell tells Putin gas project not derailed by Ukraine RT article 18 April 2014

Extract

Royal Dutch Shell’s new CEO Ben Van Beurden met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, signaling Ukraine tension has not affected investment in Russia, and that energy contracts won’t be derailed by international politics.

Shell Plans Russian Expansion With Putin Support for Sakhalin-2 BloombergBusinessweek 18 April 2014

Extract

“We are very keen to grow our position in the Russian Federation,” van Beurden said to Putin today. “We look forward with anticipation and confidence on a very long-term future here in Russia.” 

Shell chief committed to Russia despite Ukraine: The Telegraph 19 April 2014

SCREENSHOT FROM RT ARTICLE: SHELL TELLS PUTIN GAS PROJECT NOT DERAILED BY UKRAINE

Extract: “Putin said he was happy that Shell is continuing its work in Russia.”

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.