"Gray Zone" in the Economy

Abstract

I do not believe that the banking sphere in Russia is seriously criminalized. Accusations of this sort are constantly being made against banks by Russias press (which is prone to see criminalization in every instance). They speculate about the criminal origin of a considerable proportion of bank capital in Russia, citing different figures (as a rule, several dozen percent). These allegations, however, are rather doubtful. One can hardly imagine that proper "criminal groups," which obtained their money by racketeering, robbery, and so forth, might not only have billions of dollars at their disposal but also take the risk of utting them in banking, a sphere kept under the closest control by the authorities (the origin of a banks own capital, unlike the money in its accounts, can be effectively traced through rather elaborate procedures).