Thank you for coming, welcome to todays briefing in russia. Iem for a policy advisor responsible for economic and Environmental Issues at the Helsinki Commission. Combating corruption is an imperative of the organization for security and cooperation. Corruption takes many forms but the one that concerns us today is nowhere is the idea of corruption a system of government more fully realized than in the Russian Federation. Russia has been on a steady path for the authoritarianism ever since putin entered the scene a teen years ago. Since then a new generation has entered adulthood, one that does not remember a russia before the enputin. As these young men and women enteentered the workforce to confront institutions in both the public and private sectors that have been completely assimilated into the architecture and are left with a choice to either be coopted into this system or ejected from it. While putin is a central figure responsible for russias descent into the rule, he is not the only one. The strawmen of the kremlin is surrounded by a loyal group who aided anaid and abet the presid, complicit in the robbery of the russian people in the sad state of russian democracy. Moreover, they enable the kremlin to export its brand into neighboring countries, transforming corruption into a potent geostrategic weapon. Our briefing today will examine the dynamics of the closest circle in order to establish who most strengthens hand and if its from his rule. Additionally, briefers analyze how these cronies advanced putins goals and interests. We are grateful to have such distinguished panelists with us here today. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this important issue. First, we have Brian Whitmore who joins us all the way from prague. He is a senior russian analyst and also writes the power vertical blog. Prior to joining in 2007, he worked eight years for the boston globe. First and the globe Moscow Bureau and later as a central and Eastern Europe correspondent based in prague. Following brian, we have delia. And i understand your wife just had a baby, so thank you so very much for being with us here today rather than at home. understand what a sacrifice you are making to talk about this important topic. Who joins us from the not the Russian Federation but the Free Russia Foundation, where she is a Research Expert and an academy associate. In addition, he has free speech llc which runs a project on the export of corrosive practices from postsoviet states to the west. We will then hear from the doctor was a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a professor at georgetown university. A leading specialist on Economic Policy in russia, ukraine and Eastern Europe and worked as an economic adviser to the president of ukraine from 1994 to 1997. Following, we have marios help me out here, who joins us even further away than prague, a Senior Analyst at the institute for public an analysts and formr fellow at the Hudson Institute. A highly regarded journalist from lithuania comey has been reporting on russian domestic and Foreign Policy for over two decades. And finally, we will hear from ambassador daniel fried at the Atlantic Council. One of the u. S. Governments foremost experts on russia and the former soviet spear. His career in the service stand over four decades and seven presidencies. Wow. Ending earlier this year when he retired from his post at the state Department Coordinator on sanctions policy. Very relevant for this discussion. We will conclude with a q a session. I would like now to give the floor to the first panelist, Brian Whitmore, who will provide us with an overview of the russian political system. The floor is yours. Should i start again or did everybody hear me. I cant say how delighted i am that this issue is finally get attention. Weve been talking the last few years about the information and seminars. I am enjoying all of them but harping on the issue that we need to broaden the aperture of office because the information is just one of the things the kremlin has organized and in my opinion, the most important thing that weaponize is his corruption. I will start by saying i think it is a bit misleading to characterize as simply cryptography because this implies the regimes primary aim is the enrichment of the elite and i dont think this is the case. Russian corruption has been instrumentalist here at home and its been weaponize abroad. The domestic role of corruption is to control the ob and maintain its loyalty. They monetize their positions so long as they remain politically loyal and politically useful to the putin regime. Only those who proved disloyal or not useful are ever prosecuted. When theres a Corruption Case, the first question i ask myself is not that he or she do what he or she is accused of giving because of course they did. But who did they cross politically, what happened . Thats always the first question to ask in a Corruption Case in this regime. Internationally, its been weaponize and used as a tool of statecraft. The kremlin seeks to capture deletes and establish networks of influence abroad by ensnaring officials in corrupt deals and im not going to get into the hills because house because i wt brief to go into the details later. Moreover, the russian state has these ideological elements to it. Its what i call the two russians. Sometimes the ideological russia do in the work hand in glove and by ideological russia i mean the project to essentially make russia a great again to bring it back up off of its means to restore it to what it believes to be its rightful place as a world power. Sometimes corruption and ideology go hand in hand but at other times they are in tension with each other and operate at cross purposes. Closely related is the weaponization of the russia organized crime which is also used as a tool of statecraft. But just as it is incorrect to classify russia, its also incorrect to classify it as a mafia state as many do. More accurately, as my friend and colleague wrote in a recent report on the council for foreign relations, russia is a state with a nationalized mafia. The securities upgrade closely with organized crime and often precipitating their activities as the result of Security Services they are able to establish the socalled black account which has untraceable cash that can be used for all sorts of off the books operations and influence operations abroad and i could go into a little more detail about this but i will keep my opening remarks brief. They are often pressed into service to perform tasks the kremlin wants to keep its fingerprints off which is smuggling weapons in, fascinating troublesome dissidents in london and so on and so forth. With an iced corruptioweaponized organized crime are also part of a larger non kinetic arsenal. If putin is using to weaken the western institutions and other elements of this include finance information, energy, cyberspace, the extremist Political Parties and religion. Of my favorite talking points is a headline i passed out to the other panelists. That is that corruption was the new communism. Black cash is the new red menace. It has to be looked at this way. The something that is spreading from moscow and its spreading as a tool of influence. And if you think about this, communism, despite its faults and of course they were legion, did attempt to appeal to universal human ideals and aspirations. Although in practice it often worked against these ideals. Corruption on the other hand appeals to the most universal and basest human instincts. That of greed. Sadly, its often in sync with human nature which makes the new red menace more dangerous than the old one. Finally, ill say corruption today is not just a matter of Good Governance anymore. Its not something we want to fight just because we want to be honest and good, although we do. Corruption is a National Security issue of the highest order. And needs to be treated as such. Thank you. Paul thank you very much, brian. For that fascinating overview. As well as the sorts of elaborations on how the regime exactly is structured, that its not simply a rule by thieves, it has these ideological components to it. I read your article, corruption is the new communism today. Just an incredible piece. I think that framing the issue in those terms is precisely the way that u. S. Foreign policy need to be approaching this topic. So with that ill hand the floor to ilya. Ilya thank you for coming. As brian correctly said, this topic is out in the open. Everyone discussing it. And quickly transferred from not discussing it to a term which i recently heard, outrage fatigue. Everyone understands the problem, but no one knows how to handle this unbelievable flow of information about kleptocracy and what to do with it. Ive been studying this topic since at least 2011. Been a junior expert with other people and senior experts on russia and europe, warning about National Security implications of corruption for the west. Coming from postsoviet space. Even before aggression against ukraine happened, i predicted in 2013 that, especially russian plutocracy, are taking their corrosive practices and corruption to europe and the u. S. Over at least 25 corrupt or corrosive channels, including media manipulation of information, \[inaudible] universities and so forth. In this briefing i want to put forward a further warning and prediction. I think the west, especially the u. S. As leader of the democratic world, has been so negligence and appeasing of postsoviet corruption of Democratic Values under putin that even on the best case scenario, russian plutocracy will not be eradicated. The best the west can hope right now, from now on, is to try to attempt to contain negative Global Impact of rampant plutocracy coming and try preserving its own Democratic Institutions. In a nut shell this problem is really no longer just about russia or postsoviet. Its really about the u. S. And the west. In my Research Paper that is slated to come out in the next month, i really want to emphasize the incidence of nonstate actors or supposed known state actors coming from postsoviet space. The biggest difference with the soviet union is that not only there is this seeming sort of business interactions between supposedly private sector states and in the west, but the nature of transactions has changed considerably. And there is little understanding in my view in the west, despite ample evidence that, really from soviet times, we now see fusion of three different worlds. And values coming from postsoviet space, in one elite. So, in soviet times, we used to have three different worlds. Communist party, k. G. B. And law enforcement. And actual organized crime. They were actually quite antagonistic and conflicting, especially at some important points. But now i would argue that current political elite, especially in russia, but also in surrounding postsoviet states, they took the worst, but him most practical, values and Business Practices from each of the free world an amalgamated them into one. My friend \[inaudible] an investigative journalist him \[inaudible] have been showing that especially in st. Petersburg in 1990s, putin has already tested all this free world and practices from those free world. And he came to power with a team which has been experienced and used networks from all those free worlds. I think one of the important conclusions of that study and others is that we do in the Free Russia Foundation is that there are no systemic or any kind of liberals in russian government. Its a big myth. In which is still somehow spread a in europe, especially in countries that like finland or germany, that still cooperate with russia on many business levels. So people have been implicated in those years under putin, even in st. Petersburg. Go together with putin. I would argue recently i highly recommend a study that just came out. Its emblematic that militant the security raises this question. Russian style corporate rate something one of the most widespread mechanisms of operation of especially big businesses in russia. Doesnt want to implement any consistent measures to protect businesses. Previously, last year, in the him and report for Free Russia Foundation \[inaudible] i also argue that the term oligarch is no longer meaningful really. In fact, it is commonly widespread, but theres a dangerous mistake in the west to believe that a private businessman and market economy exists in russia. It doesnt. Its been hijacked by criminal groups. Security services. And business in russia really means tax breaks, sponsors from kremlin, and these oligarchs are really now cash handlers of cash flows that are allowed by putin. And also kremlin has special compromising material or other leverage over their life. Even if the previously considered oligarchs, they live in the west and appear to be western business men and have looks and lifestyle and lawyers like western business men, theyre actually putins handlers. Because theyre based in russia really. But they want to spend money and sort of enjoy the best of two worlds. This brings me to my second major point. Kleptocracy in russia is not something residual. I believe there are strong indicators that were passing through times when, as in 1930s, the very existence of liberal western capitalism, with ideals of Good Government \[inaudible] i call this phenomenon g13 versus g7 in g20. In fact, g7 itself could be, you know, not seen as that much about western liberalism. If you look at countries like italy or etc. So we see that most developing countries seem to be learning worst kleptocratic government and Business Practices and capitalism based on the rule of law and proper separation of powers is no longer an ideal for societies where people have adapted to sophisticated and often seemingly comfortable and acceptable forms of state level corruption. So corruption is a new accepted norm on many, many levels in societies, both in the west and in postsoviet space and elsewhere. So together with Free Russia Foundation and the group of 2,000 activists around the world, we are preparing a launch of a Research Project called undermineness, which you mentioned in my introduction. I think this is a new term that we believe is more relevant than oligarchs and other nonstate actors. It basically shows that we have a whole group of people and actors, nonstate actors, but connected with kleptocratic regimes who actively undermine democracy in the u. S. , while enduring illicit profits in russia and spending them in the west. I believe these individuals and corperations learned even more sophisticated financial methods to advance their own interests. There are multiple examples which i want to go into here in this session. What can we do . I have one minute to discuss this. With this outrage fatigue. I think we need a new system of containment against russian and other postsoviet kleptocracy that will enforce strictly existing laws will create more up to date laws that deal with todays International Corruption and subversion, especially in regard to unanimous companies in offshore jurisdictions. Something which Kleptocracy Initiative of the Hudson Institute is doing very well and many other anticorruption groups are now discussing in washington especially. I also think we need to build Awareness Among western general public that will link that will create this understanding, acknowledgment, in the minds of people about the link between transnational kleptocracy and erosion of democracy in the west. So far ive seen very few actual examples of it. So people in london now finally realize that kleptocrats from around the world are raising real estate prices. I will finish my presentation with a warning that the price we pay today in the west to stop kleptocracy is considerable and we have to understand that there will be a price. We need to, especially in the business sector, we need to do containment. We need to really prevent some of the cash flows especially. But also many, many hours at Different Levels of subversion and corruption. This price is still much smaller than the one that were likely to be forced to pay tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Paul thank you very much. I think your comment that oligarch is no longer meaningful is an extremely important point to hit home. Steven colbert recently went to russia and did a little piece on a day with oligarchs. These oligarchs arent really oligarchs. Theyre cronies of putin. Thats what they are. Its certainly not like it was and to a point still is in ukraine where the oligarchs have a competitive political environment. These guys arent competing with one another. Theyre just working for putin. Id also like to back up your comments on the work of the kleptocracy. Give a shoutout to charles davidson. I see you hiding there in the audience. Who is joining us today. He was a panelist at a briefing we did last month, two months ago, on asset recovery. And he talked a lot about the Corruption Services industry. In the west. Where lawyers and bankers are ready and willing and advertise to take these funds and hide them in the west. So as far as you say so negligent and appeasing, yes, very much so in the west. Ill hand it over to the doctor now. Anders thank you very much, paul. And the Helsinki Commission for this invitation. Indeed i thi