Due Diligence – KCS Group Europe Ltd

Oligarchy in Russia: The Jaws of a dilemma

Articles / corruption, Due Diligence, Kolomoyskyi, russia, Ukraine, Zelensky / 09/2022 09/2022

As Ukraine looks to rebuild both practically and socially (a reconstruction program requiring hundreds of billions of Euros is being put forward and there are tentative plans to restart the country’s football season), the biggest earthquake is yet to come. In an unexpected yet devastating move, President Zelensky has stripped Ukrainian citizenship from Ihor Kolomoyskyi, …

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A Question of Trust

Articles / Corporate Intelligence Services, Due Diligence, evidence, Intelligence, Investigations / 09/2022 09/2022

A common refrain of our always-online, always-trending society is “Pictures or it didn’t happen” – the contention that whatever eventuality or experience the author is describing, requires evidence if it is not to be dismissed as a lie. But while people tell lies on the Internet just for likes and attention, it becomes a severe …

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Rwanda-vision: hardly a marvel of Africa

Articles / Africa, corruption, Due Diligence, Human rights, Rwanda / 09/2022 09/2022

The UK government plan to send migrants and refugees to Rwanda, and keep them there, can be seen in one of two ways. Either it is a shameful attempt to pass the problem out of sight and out of mind, while throwing red meat to the rabid right-wingers propping up the Tory party, or it …

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Saudi Arabia: End of an era?

Articles / China, Due Diligence, russia, Saudi, US-Saudi / 09/2022 09/2022

Is one of global politics’ most special relationships about to come to an end? Not the one between the USA and UK, but between America and Saudi Arabia. For decades, these two have been close allies on everything from global oil stability to facing down Iran, a relationship not even 9/11 could interrupt. Now, though, …

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The magician’s apprentice

Articles / China, Due Diligence, new world order, russia, Saudi oil, united nations, USA / 09/2022 09/2022

Dividing lines are all around us, even when we prefer not to see them. The reality of the United Nations contradicts its name, the politicisation of migrants and refugees erects divisions in the mind just as it does in physical terms, and the rising disparity between the rich and the poor (both at individual and …

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Threats to world peace: Made in China

Articles / China, corruption, Due Diligence, Global Threats, Russia:Ukraine conflict / 09/2022 09/2022

While Russia is public enemy number one due to its invasion of Ukraine – and understandably so – there is a risk that other bad actors will slip under the radar as the Russian bogeyman dominates the international conversation. This is a risk confidently met by the heads of MI5 and the FBI who, in …

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Tunisia’s President Gains Total Power: Has the Arab Spring Dried Up?

Articles / Arab Spring, Democracy, Due Diligence, Kais Saied, Tunisia / 09/2022 09/2022

Tunisia has approved a new constitution and is expected to hand over full control to its strongman president, Kais Saied. Saied has already suspended the country’s independent judicial body, while his new powers would enable him to personally hire and fire ministers - including the Prime Minister. Voters met the proposed reforms with a collective …

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China and Russia: Moving mountains

Articles / China, Due Diligence, Geopolitics, russia, USA, Western world / 09/2022 09/2022

A summit is an appropriate place to talk of mountains, and so Beijing’s description of the Russia-China partnership as, at the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Samarkand, ‘stable as mountains’ is appropriate, if not entirely true. China has thus far been one of Russia’s few credible allies as the latter’s war in Ukraine stretches …

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Sri Lanka: A Rock and a Hard Place

Articles / China, corruption, Due Diligence, Rajapaksa, russia, Sri Lanka / 07/2022 09/2022

After weeks of protest, violence and crises, the Sri Lankans finally have their man. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has resigned and, as the one held personally responsible for the months of fuel, food and medicine shortages, and the veritable collapse of the Sri Lankan economy, the delight felt by those citizens currently enjoying ‘palace life’ is …

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Kiribati: Pacific Grim

Articles / China, Due Diligence, Geopolitics, Kiribati, Pacific Island Forum / 07/2022 09/2022

The last-minute, unexpected withdrawal of Kiribati from the Pacific Island Forum has caught the region by surprise. As nations from Palau to Polynesia prepare for the 2022 edition of the summit, Kiribati’s sudden exit – and the stated rationale – has thrown into disarray the ‘unity’ of the Pacific community, at a time where this …

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