Russian capital flight Take the money and run

Rich Russians do not trust Russia. That is the best interpretation of the massive capital flight out the country – 6% of the country’s GDP in 2004, according to a Fitch study. That means that more than half of the Russian trade surplus never really made it back into the country. The $33bn was the highest annual total since 1997, just before the rouble collapsed. Most of the flight comes from big companies controlled by oligarchs. They have good reasons to want to add some geographic diversifica...