Today’s Bloomberg article details Jamison Firestone’s revelation that Russian Interior Ministry officials tried to collect $21 million in taxes using forgery and theft. The method the government officials used were similar to the expropriation in the Hermitage Capital case through taxes. In April 2009 and again in October 2009, Firestone filed complaints with the tax authorities and the General Prosecutor’s office but neither offices responded.
Russia’s issues with government, institutionalized corruption is well-known. Ranked 146th in Transparency International’s 2009 Corruption Perception Index is having a real financial effect on the Russian economy. According to data by EPFR Global,
Perceived lack of law is one reason Russia has attracted less than one-fifth the investment in China and Brazil and half of what’s invested in India, its fellow members of the so-called BRIC group of emerging nations.
Firestone supported this assertion with,
Corrupt law enforcement is the single biggest risk to business in Russia.
At last September’s Committee for Russian Economic Freedom event in New York, Firestone had this to say about the rule of law in Russia.
