Secretary of State Nominee Rex Tillerson and Vladimir Putin having a chat

Reuters published this article last Wednesday about all the shell companies that a sale of 19.5% of Rosneft went through to hide the identity of the purchaser(s). I haven’t seen any mention of it at DailyKos. Apologizes if it has already been shared.

More than a month after Russia announced one of its biggest privatizations since the 1990s, selling a 19.5 percent stake in its giant oil company Rosneft, it still isn't possible to determine from public records the full identities of those who bought it. The stake was sold for 10.2 billion euros to a Singapore investment vehicle that Rosneft said was a 50/50 joint venture between Qatar and the Swiss oil trading firm Glencore. Unveiling the deal at a televised meeting with Rosneft's boss Igor Sechin on Dec. 7, President Vladimir Putin called it a sign of international faith in Russia, despite U.S. and EU financial sanctions on Russian firms including Rosneft. How Russia sold its oil jewel: without saying who bought it

Remember that unverified dossier about Trump? The one that generated all the talk about Golden Showers. I didn’t remember talk about selling a stake in Russia’s oil company.

A dossier with unverified claims about President Donald Trump's ties to Russia contained allegations that Igor Sechin, the CEO of Russia's state oil company, offered former Trump ally Carter Page and his associates the brokerage of a 19% stake in the company in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions on Russia. The dossier says the offer was made in July, when Page was in Moscow giving a speech at the Higher Economic School. The claim was sourced to "a trusted compatriot and close associate" of Sechin, according to the dossier's author, former British spy Christopher Steele. Memos: CEO of Russia's state oil company offered Trump adviser, allies a cut of huge deal if sanctions were lifted

So in July the dossier said a Trump associate was offered 19% of Rosneft if Trump became president and removed sanctions. Then a sale happens in early December of 19.5% of Rosneft.

Pure coincidence or will we soon see the White House of Popular Vote Loser Trump attempting to lift the sanctions on Russia without advice and consent of Congress?