World Bank gives estimate for capital flight from Russia

Capital flight from Russia decreased in the first six months of 2002 and reached $5bn, the chief economist of the Moscow office of the World Bank declared today at the presentation of the Fourth Economic Report on Russia, prepared by the World Bank. According to him, the inflow of capital to Russia increased mainly due to the return of Russian money from Cyprus. These funds mainly go to the private sector "in the form of commercial loans and bonds."

As it was reported earlier, the Finance Ministry of Russia estimated the volume of capital flight from Russia in 2002 at $9bn-10bn. The corresponding figures for 2001 and 2000 were $17bn and $25bn respectively.