DEPUTY CHAIR OF THE CENTRAL BANK ANDREI KOZLOV IS KILLED
Senior Deputy Chair of the Central Bank Andrei Kozlov died in Moscow on September 14, 2006. An attempt to kill Kozlov was taken on September 13.
Professional activity is mentioned among the possible reasons for murder of Kozlov. According to colleagues and acquaintances, Kozlov had a harsh attitude to the banks that laundered money and were involved in other kinds of illegal activity.
In 2006 alone, the Central Bank revoked licenses of 40 banks according to the initiative of Kozlov and Investcombank, Belcom was the last bank that lost its license recently. Investigators presume that if the murder is connected with this area of activities of Kozlov it is necessary to seek customers of the crime not among those who have lost licenses but among those placed on a queue for revoking. In his latest interviews Kozlov announced that he was going to keep revoking licenses from the banks involved in laundering criminal money.
The law-enforcement agencies reported that the General Prosecutor’s Offices started investigation the case of murder of Kozlov. A source in the General Prosecutor’s Office explained, “This is connected with big public repercussions and difficulty of investigation in the case of the murder of Kozlov.”
The prosecutor’s office is checking all versions including a version connected with professional activity of Kozlov, says a representative of the press service. Sources close to the investigation state that “this crime has signs of an obviously prepaid murder.”
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin stated that Kozlov frequently infringed on interests of dishonest financiers in the framework of his work. Kudrin added, “Lately, Kozlov worked on supervision over banks and his work ended with revoking licenses from the banks involved in money laundering and financial crimes.”
According to Kudrin, Kozlov “was on the edge of the struggle against crimes of such kind. In the last few years, a few dozen licenses were revoked from dishonest banks. This was a very bold and honest person.”
CEO of RAO EES Rossii announced that murder of Kozlov “is a challenge to all Russian authorities.” He added, “This is just a case where authorities are obliged to respond harshly, quickly and ruthlessly.”
According to Chubais, Kozlov was “an honest, demanding and absolutely non-commercial person.” He added, “He was one of the most professional people in the entire Russian banking sector.”
Vladimir Vasilyev, member of the parliamentary security committee, said that disclosure of the murder of Kozlov should be task No. 1 for the law-enforcement agencies. He added, “This is a matter of prestige for our law-enforcement agencies and disclosure of this crime should be task No. 1.”
Vasilyev remarks that the public including Duma deputies will watch the course of the investigation and its results attentively. Vasilyev emphasized, “We lost a person who did very much for banking discipline to become reality in our country.” According to him, Kozlov stringently struggled against the shadow criminal component in the financial sector.
According to Anatoly Aksakov, deputy chair of the parliamentary committee for crediting organizations and financial markets, the murder of Kozlov “may be connected with his professional activity. He had a harsh stance towards the banks that cashed and laundered criminal money or were involved in other kinds of illegal activities.”
Aksakov reminded that when banks were selected for the deposit insurance system (DIS) conflict situations appeared between the banks not included in the system on the one hand and the Central Bank in the form of Kozlov who was curator of this activity on the other hand. Meanwhile, Aksakov stated that even when Kozlov did not use personal bodyguards he did not say anything about threats addressed to him. Aksakov stressed, “I do hope that this is not connected with his professional activity.”
Alexander Murychev, President of Association of Regional Banks of Russia, said that Kozlov was curator of “the most important section” of the banking system that is supervision. Murychev added, “Kozlov is one of the most active and boldest people who undertook responsibility and tried to change the banking system and to make it work.”
Duma deputy Alexander Koval, President of the All-Russian Insurers’ Union, believes that the murder of Kozlov is connected with his professional activity. Koval remarks, “On the one hand, the name of Kozlov was never connected with something shady. On the other hand, he is known on the Russian financial market as a person with principles who has stringently followed the supervision policy of the Central Bank, that is state policy.”
Andrei Kozlov was born on January 6, 1968, in Moscow. In 1989, he graduated from the department of international economic relations of the Moscow Financial Institute. Kozlov had three children.
<ref>newsru.com, September 14, 2006; Vremya Novosti, September 14, 2006
