Russia fears a big capital flight in the second half of the year after the arrest of the boss of oil giant YUKOS, the central bank's deputy chairman said in a newspaper interview today.
Mr Oleg Vyugin told the Financial Timeshe expected a net private capital flight of more than $13 billion in the last six months of the year, compared to a net $4.6 billion inflow in the first half.
"The first and second halves of the year could not have been more different," Mr Vyugin was quoted as saying, adding that he could not definitively link the feared capital flight to the arrest of former YUKOS chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
He said net private capital outflow was $7.7 billion in the third quarter of the year and the bank estimated it would reach $8.6 billion for the full year.
Mr Khodorkovsky, Russia's richest man, was seized by the security forces on October 25th and is in jail charged with fraud and tax evasion.