Russia is methodically battening down the hatches on all aspects of its economy and financial system, to steel itself against the deadly sanction warfare launched against the country and to prepare for the even worse storms ahead. The latest in these steps was discussed in a meeting yesterday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Head of Federal Service for Financial Monitoring Yury Chikhanchin. As the Kremlin site reported, Putin began the meeting by stating: “Mr. Chikhanchin, usually we listen to the main part of your report behind closed doors, but I know you want to start with your efforts to counter money-laundering.”
Chikhanchin then reviewed the difficult tasks of “developing the anti-money laundering service in the new conditions,” especially internationally as part of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of which Russia is a member, but “some states are trying to exclude Russia from FATF.” Putin wondered out loud “How will they fight money laundering in such a situation? Without our participation,” to which Chikhanchin replied: “This is what we are telling them: you will destroy the entire system.… A number of countries in the Egmont Group, which unites the financial intelligence services of almost 180 states, are also trying to disconnect us from communication channels.”
He reported that “operations with unfriendly countries have plunged by about 80%”; while joint activities with countries in Southeast Asia, the Arab world and Central Asia have tripled. Russia continues to work closely with the UN, the SCO, the BRICS and other groupings, he said.
