Foreign Investment from Offshore Jurisdictions into Russia: An Analytical Overview

Author(s): Svetlana Ledyaeva, Päivi Karhunen, Riitta Kosonen, Helsinki-Espoo & John Whalley, London Ontario
Editor(s): Stephen Aris, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder, Aglaya Snetkov
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Issue: 140
Pages: 2-6
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen; Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University
Publication Year: 2013

Drawing on a dataset from ROSSTAT, the authors investigate foreign investment from offshore jurisdictions into Russia. They conclude that it is reasonable to suggest that corrupt public officials in Russia utilize roundtrip schemes via offshore centers for laundering the proceeds of corruption. In addition, they highlight a trend whereby offshore investors choose to invest in the more corrupt regions of Russia within the real estate and financial sectors, suggesting that this is because these sectors are known to be associated with corruption.

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