Emerging picture is one of confusion and distrust between all the parties

In the early 1990s, Alexandr Marichev, a former chief navigator with the Soviet navy's atomic icebreaker Lenin, was one of thousands of Russian entrepreneurs hoping to use contacts within the Russian military/industrial complex in order to make money.

Mr Marichev and his wife, Tatyana Kirillova, were directors of the Russian Corporation, an organisation set up to avail of opportunities in the oil, gas and new technology sectors.

In 1993, the Russian couple were on holidays in Cork with a friend, George Millar Kurakin. Mr Kurakin introduced them to an Irishman involved in the resources industry, Bill Griffin. It was through this connection that Mr Jim Stanley was introduced to the Russians later that same year.

According to Kirillova, the Russian Corporation had its offices at the time in a Moscow ministry, the Ministry of Precision Instruments. The minister, Mikhail Sergeyevich Khkabardnya, was on the board of the Russian Corporation. Griffin brought Stanley to the Moscow office.

These days, the Russian Corporation has offices on Bolshoy Kozlovskiy Pereulok, a quiet street in central Moscow. A steel door leads into the dark hallway of the pre-Revolution building. Another steel door leads into the ground floor offices of the Russian Corporation. A stocky man operates the intercom linked to the door on the street, and locks and unlocks the steel door into the offices as people enter and leave.

"Jim Stanley was looking for projects at the time, principally in gold, oil and advanced technology," said Kirillova. "We were working in those same areas."

Ms Kirillova said they introduced Stanley to contacts in Mogadan involved in gold mining. They introduced him to Anatoly Ivanovich Sokolov, who had contacts in the advanced technology sector.

Mr Marichev and Ms Kirillova came to be Bula directors as part of a deal involving the Shapshinskoye oil field in Siberia. A company called Aki Otyr held the licence for the field. Under the terms of the deal, Bula would pay out £3.34 million and issue 90.3 million ordinary shares to the Russian Corporation. In return, through the Russian Corporation, Bula would get an option on a 51 per cent stake in Aki-Otyr. A further share issue would be needed if Bula was to take up the option.

The deal was approved by Bula shareholders in 1994. Marichev and Kirillova became directors, opened offices on Pembroke Road, Dublin, and took up residence in Dalkey.

Within months of the deal being agreed, difficulties began to emerge. A Russian court ruled there were problems with the Russian Corporation's title over its share in Aki Otyr. There were even rumours that a second Aki Otyr had been set up and was posing as the true company. Bula had solicitors in Moscow investigate this, but nothing was ever proved.

The deal between Bula and the Russian Corporation fell apart. There was a complete breakdown in relations between the two companies. As a result of the disaster, Bula had to write off £8 million. The two Russians agreed to resign from the board.

Bula is now threatening legal action against a London firm of solicitors, Gouldens. Bula managing director, Mr Pat Mahony, alleges the legal firm gave it inadequate advice. A spokesman for Gouldens said the issues involved were complex and he did not want to comment on the details. "I don't think public platforms are the proper way to pursue this."

There is some cross-over between the Aki-Otyr deal and the Bula deal with KMNGG. The KMNGG deal involved Bula funding the development of the Salymskoye oil field in Siberia. KMNGG and a British Virgins Islands company, Mir Oil, held the licence. KMNGG has a 10 per cent shareholding in Aki Otyr and Vladamir Tokarev, formerly general manager of KMNGG, is on the board of Aki Otyr.

The Bula annual report for 1996 shows that KMNGG has a beneficial interest in the drilling company used in the Salymskoye oil field. The company was paid £2.75 million for its work in 1996. KMNGG also has a beneficial interest in a management services company which was paid £209,000 for its work on the oil field.

Mr Tokarev is a former geologist with Soviet exploration companies who has worked in Siberia and Africa. He is on the board of Bula and of KMNGG. He does not speak English.

Another KMNGG executive and shareholder, Nikolai Bogatchev, is a former diplomat who has worked in Syria and Morocco. He set himself up as a consultant when the wave of privatisations began in Russia. Now he has a senior position with a Russian/Western oil production company and travels around Moscow in a chauffeur-driven Daimler.

Bogatchev, Kirillova and Marichev all gave lengthy interviews to The Irish Times in Moscow, as did representatives of Bula in Dublin. The picture that emerges is one of confusion with a large amount of distrust between the various parties. One clear point that does emerge is that Bula is currently some £20 million out of pocket as a result of its Siberian ventures.

It would seem there were discussions between Mir and Mr Anatoly Ivanovich Sokolov, the Russian with contacts in the advanced technology sector. The Irish Times has a copy of a letter proporting to be from Charles Ellis, on Mir Space notepaper, dated September 15th, 1995, and addressed to Sokolov.

Mr Ellis has said he never had any dealings with Russia, Mir Space or Mir Oil, but this letter - purportedly from him - thanks Mr Sokolov for his help "in the discussions regarding the satellite project". The signature on the letter looks nothing like Mr Ellis's.

The letter goes on: "The company has completed an oil deal and is being exclusively used for oil. However, I am keen to continue to try to obtain a satisfactory satellite/communications deal through my other company, Mir Oil Developments Ltd."

In July of this year, Mr Stanley resigned as chairman of Ovoca Resources plc. Up until recently, the company shared the same address as Bula. Mr Stanley pursued a deal for Ovoca involving a Siberian mine. There was talk of gold and a significant increase in the Ovoca share price. Some £300,000 was spent pursuing the deal, but nothing came of it. Ovoca is now concentrating on developing projects in Ireland.

Bula is determined to pursue a case for compensation against Gouldens. Meanwhile, it is optimistic about a recent deal it has negotiated with the Canadian company, Occidental, involving oil licences in Libya.

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