Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Sep 15, 2006
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Money & Banking - People Russia's central banker shot dead Vladimir Radyuhin
Radical changes Kozlov was responsible for reform of Russia's banking system and was the main driving force in a high-profile effort to cleanse Russian finance from banking crime. As First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, Kozlov had stripped about 40 banks of their licences .
Moscow , Sept. 14 Russia's second-highest ranking banker was shot and killed in an apparent contract hit in Moscow. First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, Andrei Kozlov, was shot three times by two gunmen as he was leaving a soccer stadium at around 9:00 p.m. Moscow time on Wednesday. The gunmen escaped in a getaway car. Kozlov was rushed to hospital and operated upon for wounds in the head, chest and abdomen, but died on Thursday morning. His driver and bodyguard were killed in the attack. Kozlov, 41, was responsible for reform ofRussia's banking system and was the main driving force in a high-profile effort to cleanse Russian finance of banking crime. In the late 1990s Russia had more than 1,500 banks, majority of which had been set up for the sole purpose of laundering criminally and illegally earned money and facilitating their outflow to offshore accounts abroad, said the Deputy President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Enterpreneurs (RUIE), Mr Igor Yurgens.
Criminal operations
There are still more than 1,200 banks in Russia today and many of them are suspected of engaging in criminal operations. As First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, Kozlov led an aggressive drive to shut down such banks. This year alone he had stripped about 40 banks of their licences . As result of this crackdown, the interest rate charged for money laundering had gone up from 0.4 per cent two years ago to 5-7 per cent today. Earlier this week, Kozlov called for lifetime disqualification for bankers found guilty of tax or financial crimes. A senior parliamentarian said Kozlov could have stepped on the toes of powerful forces in law enforcement agencies. "Money laundering is a huge criminal business involving tens of billions of dollars annually in Moscow alone, and it enjoys cover up both from organised crime and the `siloviki'," said the Deputy Chairman of the Lower House Security Committee, Mr Mikhail Grishankov. "Siloviki" is a general term loosely used in Russia to describe security, police and other law-enforcement agencies, which have greatly gained in power under President Vladimir Putin. However, they have largely misused Mr Putin's campaign to combat crime and corruption to enrich themselves. "Siloviki are spearheading a new campaign to recarve industrial and financial assets in their favour," said Mr Yurgens of the RUIE business lobby group.
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