11.07 Rich Lawmakers Exit Russias Senate After Foreign-Asset Ban
MOSCOW, July 11 (RIA Novosti) The spring session of Russias upper house of parliament came to an end this week, but that may not signal an end to the steady stream of wealthy senators who have stepped down as the Kremlin put forward new restrictions on officials owning assets abroad.
The nine members of the 166-seat Federation Council who have left since President Vladimir Putin first floated the asset ban in December do not openly attribute their decision to the tighter rules. But at least five of them figure in Forbes magazines rating of richest Russians, and their fellow senators, as well as experts, speak openly of moneyed officials new dilemma: wealth based overseas versus political power at home.
Either they chose their own business and foreign assets or they chose absolute loyalty to the new regime, said Pavel Salin, a political analyst and director of the Presidential Financial University.
Who Has Resigned?
The most recent defector was Dmitry Ananiev, whose resignation was approved Wednesday, the last day of the senates spring session. Ananiev jointly controls Russias second largest privately owned bank, Promsvyazbank, with his brother Alexei Ananiev. As of this year, the two men were together worth $3.4 billion, according to Forbes.
Ananiev is not the richest senator to have stepped down since Putin called for the asset restrictions. Other departures from the Federation Council in 2013 include majority owner of fertilizer company Phosagro Andrei Guriev, valued at $4 billion; private investor Nikolai Olshansky, worth $750,000; portfolio investor Vitaly Malkin, valued at $850,000; and construction company owner Andrei Molchanov, who has $1.65 billion, by Forbess estimates.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said Thursday that the trend could continue, with two more unspecified senators both ranked by Forbes in its list of top 200 wealthiest Russians possibly quitting the house in the autumn.
The departures, however, have not been limited to senators, with businessmen lawmakers stepping down from other legislatures as well.
The State Duma, parliaments lower house, accepted the resignation of billionaire Anatoly Lomakhin in February the same month the new legislation was submitted for consideration, and less than six months after he took up the post.
And earlier this month Roman Abramovich, Russias 13th richest man, worth $10.2 billion according to Forbes, left his position as chairman of the legislature in the remote region of Chukotka.
