The rise of Bank Rossiya, controlled by close friends of President Vladimir V. Putin, illustrates how he has enriched loyalists, whose influence over key sectors of the economy has helped him maintain his iron-fisted grip on power.

Source: www.nytimes.com

"For his part, Mr. Putin has denounced the sanctions as unfairly targeting people with no influence over Russia’s policies on Crimea or Ukraine. ‘Yes, these people are my friends and I’m proud to have such friends,’ he said at an economic forum in St. Petersburg in May. ‘They are true patriots and their business is oriented towards Russia. Have these sanctions done damage to them? Yes, they have. If I’m being honest, they have. But they are seasoned entrepreneurs and brought all their money back to Russia, so don’t worry about them too much.’”

See on Scoop.it – Geopolitics, Security and Political Risk