Russia lost $49 bn in illegal transfers: Bank of Russia

A staggering $49 billion was siphoned out of Russia illegally in 2012, the country's central bank chief revealed yesterday to Russian newspaper Vedomosti.

In an interview published on the bank's website, Bank of Russia governor Sergey Ignatyev said that more than half of the dubious transactions might have been conducted by a group of firms which were some way related to each other.

''It seems that they are all controlled by a well-organised group of people,'' Ignatyev, who was at the helm of the central bank for 11 years and due for retirement in June, said. He did not specify who they were.

"With a serious concentration of efforts by law enforcement agencies, I think it is possible to find these people as well as the beneficiaries," Ignatyev said.
The illegal transactions represent approximately 2.5 per cent of the country's gross domestic product.

Of the $49 billion, about $14 billion was in illicit trades while the balance $35 billion was transferred abroad through dubious cash schemes, Ignatyev said.

The fishy transactions represent about 60 per cent of the official figure of $57 billion in total capital outflows from Russia in 2012, which include tax payments and transfer of profits made through Russian investments. Total capital outflow in 2011 was $81 billion.