Re: Death of Zoya Krakhmalnikova, Russian Christian writer jailed by

On May 18, 3:36=A0am, ++ <fri...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>=A0I'd like to see how, in the last five years, half the
> cost of a public contract is kickbacks, for example.

My sister's wedding party starts in a few hours so
I don't have time to discuss this with you at the moment.
But I can address your question about kickbacks.
That was a claim made by Anders Aslund.
He has been studying the Russian economy for
many years, as you may know. Here's a quote from
an article published in the International Herald Tribune
on 7 May 2008:

  "But fresh problems have emerged, and problems that thus
  far have eluded Kremlin solutions remain. [...]

  Chief among them, said Anders Aslund, a senior fellow at the
  Peterson Institute for International Economics, in Wa****ngton,
  are inflation, the poor state of public infrastructure and endemic
  corruption. [...]

  Long-term solutions are more challenging. Oil production has begun
to
  decline, and Russia's infrastructure largely dates from Soviet
times.
  The huge investments required to revive both would create more
  inflationary pressures.

  Aslund said efforts at capital investment risked being squandered by
  corruption, which is so pervasive that kickbacks on public works and
  energy projects can reach 50 percent.

  "You can't build infrastructure if half the invested money has to go
  to kickbacks," he said."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/07/europe/08russia.2.php?page=3D2

If you want the evidence that half of the cost of a public
contract in Russia today goes to kickbacks, I suggest
you contact Anders Aslund. Or you might start by
searching for more in-depth articles by him.