THE NAME’S Keegan; Councillor Keegan. And while working for a global financial organisation in the former Soviet Union, he was known to dodge the Russian mafia in search of a good meal.
His James Bond-style experience relates to six months that Cheshire East Council’s deputy leader spent in Kazakhstan’s then capital Almaty, during the winter of 1996.
Of his secondment while working full-time as an accountant, Coun Frank Keegan said: "It was fascinating, and before I became a councillor.
"I used to work for the United Nations with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) when I was a consultant, and I got put forward by the World Bank to work in Kazakhstan. Because it was a former Soviet state, they recognised the ILO.
"It was winter and the weather was extreme. It was incredibly cold – it took your breath away.
"I remember that 4x4s outside a restaurant designated that it was protected by the Russian mafia and so it was safe to eat there."
He denies witnessing any corruption first-hand, but admits being left frustrated by how business was conducted.
"I was working out a project on how to fund the pension money of people in the employment market," said CEC’s current finance chief.
"I remember I needed to see the minister of labour and they kept telling me she wasn’t available, so I got a chair and parked it outside her door. People kept coming up and asking what I was doing.
"But I knew she was in there and two hours later the minister was desperate to go to the loo and came out. She started laughing when she saw me and I got my appointment."
Kazakhstan became independent in 1991 and is the ninth largest country in the world.
