A top Russian central banker who campaigned tirelessly against money-laundering and financial corruption has died after being gunned down outside a Moscow sports stadium. His death is being seen as a contract killing and a direct attack on President Vladimir Putin’s political regime.
Andrei Kozlov, the deputy chairman of the Russian Central Bank and an ardent banking reformer, was rushed to hospital late last night after being shot by two unidentified gunman in the head and neck, the Moscow prosecutor’s office said.
The two gunmen fled before they could be identified or apprehended. Mr Kozlov, 41, who had been watching bank staff play football at the stadium, died early this morning of his wounds.
His driver, who has not yet been named, was also killed in the attack.
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Mr Kozlov had been deputy chairman of the Central Bank since 2002, having rejoined after a three-year stint in the private sector.
Seen as having the ear of President Putin, Mr Kozlov led a campaign to clean up the murkier elements of Russian’s opaque banking industry, including amending bankruptcy laws, cracking down on money laundering and revoking banking licences.
Senior Russian politicians and financial market observers were quick to say his reform efforts were probably linked to his death.
Alexander Zhukov, the Russian vice-premier, was quoted by Interfax, the news agency, as saying his death was most probably linked to his duties, while Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov expressed condolences to Mr Kozlov’s family and the Russian cabinet held a moment’s silence in his honour.
Richard Hainsworth, the chief executive, of RusRating, an independent bank rating company in Moscow, told Bloomberg: “There are people in Russia who do not want the transparent, law abiding and rational system he was creating.
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“His reforms had pushed up the price of black money, of giving bribes.”
Timothy Ash, a managing director at Bear Stearns, also told the news agency: “The attack will likely be seen as a direct attack on the Putin regime, as Kozlov was an insider and a heavyweight within the administration.”
Mr Ash added: “We would expect that Putin will set the resolution of this case as an absolute priority for the country’s security services. Failure to apprehend the killers would send a signal to others that intimidation of government officials is once again an option.”