Vladimir Pastukhov, a longtime Hermitage adviser, has fled to London. "I'll never step into another courtroom again as a Russian lawyer," he said. (Photos Courtesy Of Hermitage Capital Management) 'Raiding' Underlines Russian Legal Dysfunction -- Washington Post
3 Lawyers Targeted After Uncovering Seizure of Firms
MOSCOW -- When three of Russia's finest lawyers agreed to represent the investment fund Hermitage Capital, they thought they were taking on a routine tax case.
Then they uncovered evidence of a breathtaking crime: Top police and tax authority officials appeared to have quietly seized ownership of Hermitage firms and used them to arrange a $230 million tax refund.
Now, the lawyers themselves are in legal trouble. One has been jailed. The two others have fled the country. All three face charges that seem intended to discredit Hermitage and divert attention from the enormous theft.
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My Comment: When I first visited Russia in 1992, the common perception among many Russians is that capitalism is a philosophy of stealing from others ..... that the idea that capitalism is actually creating and/or improving new products and services was never part of the lexicon.
In fact .... businessmen were often labeled as Mafia.
Two years later I was approached to do 2 unique projects in the Moscow area. The first was to set up a number of pharmacies .... that did not fly because we would have to hire an army of security guards to protect our property. The second was to establish Russia's first "real" golf course .... when this idea came out was when the "real" Mafia showed up, and they wanted their percentage. Naturally .... this project died also.
As long as this culture of corruption .... as dictated from the top .... continues, Russia will always be poor. The only way to combat this corruption is through a proper and ethical legal process and judiciary .... but as the above case illustrates, the legal profession is a dead end in Russia today, and so is Russia.