IT IS truly regrettable that the innuendoes and factual errors about me that have been regurgitated in the United States press during a politically charged time in the US are now being repeated by media outlets in the United Kingdom such as the article 'Hillary's woes take their toll on brand Clinton' (International, May 4).
Had you done the basic due diligence required of good journalism you would have seen that the dated allegations you have repeated about the mining agreements my company reached in Kazakhstan had nothing to do with my relationship with President Clint
on. As I have clearly and publicly stated multiple times, these mining agreements were concluded after many months of negotiations with private companies – not the Kazakhstan government – and involved market value payment for the assets involved.
As I have said many times, my relationship with Bill Clinton is based solely on our shared global philanthropic interests, nothing more and nothing less. There is substantial information available in the public domain that clearly demonstrates I have a 25-year track record of highly successful international business transactions, achieved long before I ever met former US President Bill Clinton. To suggest that I somehow rely on my relationship with Bill Clinton to advance my commercial transactions shows a total ignorance of my business, my industry and me.
Moreover, as with my transaction in Kazakhstan, my agreements in Colombia have all been reached with private enterprises, not government entities, and all transactions have involved market value payment for any assets involved. In fact, in a number of instances, Colombian assets that companies affiliated with me purchased were already owned by non-Colombian parties.
Ultimately, I am a Canadian citizen with no interest in US politics. I find it saddening to be used as a political pawn by the US press, and puzzling that a UK newspaper such as Scotland on Sunday would choose to rehash discredited and politically-motivated lies and innuendoes.
Frank Giustra, president and CEO, Fiore Financial Corp, Vancouver, British ColumbiaThe full article contains 340 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
