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Putin’s neo-imperialist policies had resulted in a surge of capital flight. What investor in his right mind would put his money into a land without impartial courts, where an absolute ruler could throw his enemy into prison and seize his goods? Where trust was eroded and property rights were ridden over rough shod by a state at the boot of the Kremlin’s autocrat. Oil and gas were not enough to reassure investors. Long-term political stability was a sine qua non requirement, especially when it required billions to explore and put new oil fields on stream and where, given the uncertainty of market conditions, the breakeven point was years off.
It wasn’t surprising the rich were rushing to get their money out of a country that appeared to be sliding backwards to a form of authoritarianism worst than Communism, where corruption reigned, where government ministers owned offshore companies to hide their ill gotten wealth, where officials flaunted their fabulous bling-bling life styles. Francis saw the hope of a new prosperous Russia fade, and under Putin’s progressively authoritarian rule it had started to resemble a banana republic of the worst kind … backed by a terrifying nuclear arsenal.
Cornucopia Page 90