RUSSIAN PLAYER IN CANADIAN OIL & GAS

   A Russian energy billionaire was able to buy a majority stake in a Canadian oil and gas company without any regulatory scrutiny, despite a longstanding battle in a U.S. federal court over his alleged role in schemes involving international money-laundering, kickbacks and a disgraced former Ukrainian prime minister, Global News has learned.

   Igor Makarov, who acquired 21 per cent of Calgary-based Spartan Delta last year, has been accused by American authorities of paying at least $28.5 million in kickbacks to former Ukrainian prime minister Pavel Lazarenko in 1996 for exclusive rights to sell gas in Ukraine.
   While there is nothing illegal about Makarov’s Spartan Delta’s purchase, the complex international transactions expose regulatory gaps between federal and provincial agencies and the lack of vetting of foreign investors.