MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin called on Friday for urgent action to clean
up Russia's banking system, which he said was being used for criminal ends,
after the murder of a top banker who waged a war on money laundering.
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Russian investigators work at the site of an
attempt on the life of the first deputy chairman of Russia's Central Bank
Andrei Kozlov in Moscow September 13, 2006. [Reuters]
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Speaking at an emergency meeting of
bankers and law enforcement officials, Putin said the suspected contract killing
of central banker Andrei Kozlov showed "the use of banking institutions for
criminal ends is, unfortunately, continuing."
Putin's comments in the Black Sea resort of Sochi implied he too believed
Kozlov, a first deputy chairman of the central bank, had paid the ultimate price
for leading the fight on money laundering.
Kozlov, 41, a father of three who had been closing down dozens of crooked
banks, was gunned down by assassins on Wednesday night outside a Moscow sports
stadium. His driver died on the spot. Kozlov succumbed to his wounds early on
Thursday.
"In my view, it is a manifestation of the intensifying situation in the
struggle against crime in this area," Putin said of Kozlov's death. Putin said
Kozlov had "worked in one of the toughest areas -- he worked with so called
problem banks."
Putin called for an inter-agency task force comprised of prosecutors, tax
inspectors, central bankers and the security services to be set up to crack down
on financial crime.
Russia's bankers, meanwhile, offered big rewards, without giving a sum, if
the killers were found. But despite launching a major manhunt police said they
had no firm suspects.
The killing of Kozlov, who was also well respected in Western financial
institutions, was the highest profile assassination in Moscow in Putin's six
years in power.
In his comments, Putin zeroed in on the worst features of Russia's
post-Soviet economy that is rampant with corruption.
Many companies work hand-in-glove with fly-by-night banks to operate "slush
funds" from which they pay workers cash in hand, bribe officials for contracts
and avoid tax liability.
"We are witnessing the laundering of billions of roubles every month as well
as transfers of vast funds abroad," Putin said. He said laundered money was
being used for "massive bribes, for criminal ends in the wider sense of the
word."
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