The Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute (DOC), a Berlin-based think tank founded and chaired by sanctioned Russian oligarch Vladimir Yakunin, is considering the possibility of opening an office in the United States, a spokesperson for the group told ThinkProgress.
Jean-Christophe Bas, the current CEO of Yakunin’s think tank, said that he’s considering opening a “liaison office” in New York. The office “would be liaising with the United Nations,” as well as with international groups like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bas said.
He added the DOC also plans to expand to Brussels.
“My objective is to make this organization truly global… I think in a way we can easily operate in many parts of the world,” said Bas, who joined the DOC last year. “What has to be put to the credit of Dr. Yakunin, and it’s not really the easiest or most comfortable way to do it, is that he’s made this initiative to create this organization, to engage and reach out.”
Last week, Yakunin was disinvited from a conference funded by the European Union hours after his participation was revealed. He was scheduled to speak at an event in Brussels on February 27, but hours after the invitation was revealed, a spokesperson for the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s foreign policy arm, told BuzzFeed News in an email that Yakunin’s participation was “no longer foreseen.”
He did not give a projected timeline for the potential expansion, but the move would be a big step for a think tank that has spent the past few years mired in controversy — largely due to the involvement of Yakunin.
Yakunin, who used to head the Russian railway monopoly, has been on the U.S. sanctions list since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014, identified as a key player in President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin. The oligarch has long been a member of Putin’s inner circle and was closely involved in the early networks used to cement Putin’s power, according to the report.
