Several of\u00a0Russia\u2019s wealthiest businessmen have moved billions of\u00a0dollars out of\u00a0the country over the past year amid growing concern about the economy\u2019s future and the federal budget, Bloomberg reported, citing six wealthy Russians and other people familiar with the thinking of\u00a0several of\u00a0the country\u2019s billionaires.<\/p>\n
The businessmen, some of\u00a0them close to\u00a0Russian President Vladimir Putin, also fear that their assets could be\u00a0seized \u2014 as\u00a0they were<\/a>, for example, in\u00a0the case of\u00a0Dmitry Kamenshchik, the former owner of\u00a0Domodedovo Airport.<\/p>\n The businessmen also worry that the state will step up\u00a0pressure on\u00a0them to\u00a0fund the\u00a0war. At\u00a0a\u00a0closed-door meeting with Putin in\u00a0March, leading businessmen were asked<\/a> to\u00a0contribute, The Bell reported at\u00a0the time. The Kremlin said<\/a> the businessmen were not asked and came forward with the initiative themselves.<\/p>\n Over the past year, some of\u00a0Russia\u2019s wealthiest businessmen have shifted their investment portfolios toward cryptocurrency, gold, and real estate abroad, Bloomberg\u2019s sources said.<\/p>\n The scale of\u00a0unofficial capital flight \u2014 through opaque cryptocurrency transactions, for example \u2014 is\u00a0hard to\u00a0measure, Bloomberg said. Two sources familiar with the investment decisions of\u00a0several of\u00a0Russia\u2019s wealthiest businessmen estimated the outflow so\u00a0far this year at\u00a0tens of\u00a0billions of\u00a0dollars, an\u00a0increase from the previous year.<\/p>\n Russian businessmen trying to\u00a0move assets beyond the Kremlin\u2019s reach must reckon with the Western sanctions imposed on\u00a0Russia over its war in\u00a0Ukraine, Bloomberg said.<\/p>\n Bloomberg mentioned A7 in\u00a0this connection, a\u00a0cross-border payments company whose listed owners are fugitive Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor and the Russian state bank Promsvyazbank, known as\u00a0PSB. A7 moves money using A7A5, a\u00a0cryptocurrency pegged to\u00a0the ruble. In\u00a0September, PSB Deputy Chairman Mikhail Dorofeev said<\/a> that transactions through A7 totaled 7.5 trillion rubles (about $96 billion) in\u00a0the first half of\u00a02025.<\/p>\n At\u00a0Meduza, we\u00a0are committed to\u00a0transparency about our use of\u00a0artificial intelligence in\u00a0the newsroom. The story you\u2019re reading was written by\u00a0one of\u00a0our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an\u00a0AI\u00a0model configured to\u00a0follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is\u00a0the result of\u00a0extensive testing and refinements to\u00a0ensure our English-language coverage is\u00a0timely and accurate. A\u00a0Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.<\/p>\n If\u00a0you find any errors in\u00a0this translation, please contact us\u00a0at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n