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ANDERS ÅSLUND TALKS ABOUT RUSSIA’S CRONY CAPITALISM AND DISAPPEARANCE OF THE RUSSIAN MONEY

In the past months’ money laundering has been creating headlines around the world, revealing tax evasion and corrupt schemes in Europe. Anders Åslund presented his latest book “Russia’s Crony Capitalism” explaining Russia’s role in European money laundering scandals and risks associated with the Russian economy.

During the SITE event moderated by Torbjörn Becker, Director of SITE, Anders Åslund, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council shared his insights on how president Putin has consolidated power through the economic system he has created throughout his presidency years and how this system has affected Russian economy. 

The organization behind the scenes 

During the presentation, Åslund addresses several worrying issues such as Putin’s organized crime and his ongoing plans on building his own aristocracy. Åslund further explains how Putin has established his Four Circles of Power throughout his presidential terms. Which Åslund states that the Four Circles of Power consist of:

 

Åslund further points out that Putin believes in macroeconomic stability, which the statistics are surprisingly impressive comparing to other countries:

 

 

“These statistics do not explain Russia’s overall GDP, which is “nearly stagnant since 2009” and further proves that Putin has clearly chosen kleptocracy over growth”, states Åslund.

  

 

The disappearance of the Russian money

The biggest question is where does all the “well earned” kleptocracy money go? According to Åslund, most of the Russian money travels through Cyprus, Latvia, Estonia, Malta, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands Delaware, United Kingdom and to Dubai. Åslund further states that most of the money gets invested in real estate around the world.

Quo Vadis Russia? 

Åslund concludes that, as long as Russia is an authoritarian kleptocracy it will be hard to counteract Putin’s regime.

…any reform would threaten the power and wealth of the rulers. Putin wants good administration and corruption that works for him and his kleptocracy.
Anders Åslund, Atlantic Council

Which leaves Russia condemned to near stagnation as long as the current regime continues. Åslund suggested that “the west should stand up to Russia”, in which he meant maintaining and reinforce sanctions. Åslund also points out that Europe needs to have a stricter anti-money laundering law and reveal all the ultimate beneficiary owners.

…my conclusion is that this is a major national security issue because there’s so many things you can do with all this money and none of these things are very good.
Anders Åslund, Atlantic Council

Interested in finding out more on the topic? Get your own copy of Anders Åslunds book here.

DISCLAIMER!

SITE regularly organizes seminars and conferences to promote communication and sharing of ideas. Opinions expressed by the speakers and lecturers are those of the authors; they do not necessarily reflect those of the SITE. 

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