Inquiry Politico

On 9 February 2022, Politico submitted a number of questions which were answered with an Agora Strategy Statement on 10 February 2022. Please find below the original Agora Strategy Statement as well as the original questions from Politico.

 

Statement

 

Agora Strategy Group AG, with its global network of experts, is a boutique consultancy specialized in geopolitical advisory, political risk analyses, and business diplomacy.

 

Agora Strategy was founded in 2015 by Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger and team members of the Munich Security Conference, as well as other partners from politics and business. Prof. Ischinger held a seat on the Agora Strategy supervisory board until June 2018. He never received a salary or other compensation for his participation in the supervisory board. Dr. Benedikt Franke helped to set up Agora in its early stages. He never received a salary or other compensation and left the management board in 2018. Mr. Gürtler resigned from his mandate in autumn 2019 to continue a career in a separate field. Neither Ambassador Ischinger nor any other members of the MSC management team execute management or operational roles within the Agora Strategy Group.

 

Agora Strategy provides advice to companies, international organisations and public institutions in the context of geopolitical developments. The Munich Security Conference as leading global forum for foreign and security politics is an important conference for Agora Strategy. Among many other consultancies or further institutions and companies, Agora Strategy is a partner of the Munich Security Conference.

 

Original questions from Politico

 

1. Is Amb. Ischinger still a shareholder in Agora?

2. How is the ownership of Agora currently divided between the shareholders in terms of percentages?

3. Can you confirm that Agora’s clients in recent years have included EY, Qatar, Kosovo and Georgia?

4. Can you confirm that Agora helped organize a meeting for investors in 2019 on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference at which Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Christine Lagarde, the then-IMF managing director were the guests of honor?

5. Can you confirm that Agora’s annual revenue is between 2 million and 3 million euros? What is the firm’s annual profit?

6. Has Agora’s management or board ever considered that its activities in connection with the Munich Security Conference, in particular Amb. Ischinger, could present conflicts of interest?

7. What were the circumstances leading to the departures of Benedikt Franke and Tim Gürtler from the firm in 2019?