Russia’s abrupt response to a proposed levy on Cypriot savings, a condition set by the EU to provide the Cypriot government with a bailout loan for its financial debt crisis, has drawn attention to the huge volume of allegedly laundered funds held by Russians on the island tax haven. ...

The unprecedented enforcement of a direct levy on Cypriot bank deposits, which is part of a proposed EUR 10 bln bailout scheme, will mostly hit at Russian funds deposited in the island tax haven, international media reports. ...

Russia's state-owned gas giant Gazprom is facing a fine of between USD 78 mln and USD 1.17 bln from the Federal Anti-monopoly Service (FAS) after it discovered that the gas incumbent and four of its pipeline manufacturers are engaged in price fixing, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported March 18. ...

Russian MP and former Federal Protective Service (FSO) officer, Andrey Lugovoy, announced that he is withdrawing from the investigation into the deadly poisoning of Russian agent Aleksandr Litvinenko, which took place in London in 2006, as he believes UK authorities to be biased, Russian news portal RT.com wrote, March 12. ...

Russian authorities are launching an investigation into the business activity of William B, the head of Hermitage Capital, and former employer of Sergei Magnitsky who died in prison at the end of 2009, Russian news portal RT.com reported March 5. ...

Russian authorities investigating the illegal sale of Defense Ministry assets, estimate that RUB 5 bln could have been channeled out of the Ministry, Russian news channel RT reported February 20. “Authorities are investigating 25 separate instances of fraud in the so-called Oboronservis case involving the illegal sale of the Russian Defense Ministry’s property, Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said on Wednesd ...