RUSSIAN DISNEYLAND

The Untold Story of How Russia's Disneyland Failed to Come True, saturated in Miracles, Money Laundering, Organized Crime and Blood

De: The Grigorov Brothers, Roumen Grigorov, Vesselin Grigorov

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

As much as it sounds like a Cold War fairy tale, “Russian Disneyland” is a breathtaking novel inspired by a True story. Most of the characters are based on real individuals. Two of them are serving long sentences in American prisons. Others were tried in Spain, some served their sentences in a Spanish prison, and others escaped during the trial. Some still hold responsible positions in Spain in the fields of intelligence and forensics. Others continue to practice law in Spain and Switzerland. Some are still wanted by Interpol/Red Notices and are hiding in Russia to this day.

Visiting the USA in 1959, the extravagant Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev unexpectedly wanted to include in his program a tour of the newly opened Disneyland. Surprised, the State Department denied the visit, citing insufficient time to ensure his safety in the vast park. American officials were puzzled when they learned of Khrushchev’s condition that the amusement complex must close its doors to the public while he was on its grounds. Shocked and offended that he had been refused, the Soviet leader threatened to create his own “Disneyland,” even more imposing and impressive than the American one. Returning to the USSR, Khrushchev ordered the start of work on a project called “Wonderland.” For unclear reasons, the project dried up, and only after thirty years, the mayor of Moscow Yuriy Luzhkov decided to revive it. Shortly after, a decree of President Boris Yeltsin appeared, and subsequently the “Children’s World of Wonders” foundation.

Miraculously, the project, brought out of the dust, based on an eccentric Cold War-era idea to build a magical park for the little ones, marked the beginning of the gambling industry in post-Soviet Russia. In an inimitable way, immersing the reader in the swampy lawless waters of the first decade of the newly independent Russian state, "Russian Disneyland" recreates an image of life, order, customs, manners and relationships that can hardly be understood through common sense. What follows is a series of events that intertwine the fates of the characters in a surreal, arrogant, and brutal way, forming a strange symbiosis between criminal groups and leading figures from the special services.

In order to stabilize its economy, in the mid-1990s Spain professed an open-door policy towards foreign capital. Banks and financial regulators turn a blind eye to the Money Laundering Prevention Law, as the country becomes a haven for criminals from around the world moving cash flows of dubious origin. Word of the Iberian miracle did not escape the Russian Federation either, leading to the creation of the largest scheme for laundering blood money on an international scale, gaining notoriety as the “Spanish Laundromat”. Huge amounts of cash have been taken out of Russia in suitcases or transferred to “tax havens” to be further laundered by investing in the global economy. The processes are dynamic and coincide with an idea that arose in the bowels of Russian military intelligence to use the criminal world to supply weapons to various terrorist organizations and dictatorial regimes. This seemingly atypical toxic amalgam is increasingly penetrating the highest circles of power, laying the foundations of Putin's Russia.

"Russian Disneyland" is a sequel to the Grigorov brothers' debut book, but it can also be read as a standalone novel.