European crisis offers new opportunities: Prokhorov

MOSCOW: A crisis in the European banking system offers new financial opportunities for Russia, Russian billionaire and politician Mikhail Prokhorov said today.

"The European crisis, especially a crisis of the banking system, gives a fair chance to really create a global financial centre in Moscow," he was quoted in an interview with a Russian daily.

"And this means that we will get a possibility for attracting world capitals for the development of our economy. And as a result it is quite real for Russia to become a European economic leader, to take hold of once 'united' Europe without much trouble," he stressed.

The owner of Onexim Group is sure that "the sanctioned by the EU leadership decision of the Cypriot authorities on a compulsory exchange of six to ten per cent of bank deposits for participation in the bank stock is a real financial bomb for still 'united' at the moment Europe". He believes that in essence, the European Union has opened "Pandora's box", creating a dangerous precedent for solving problems of capitalization of the banking system.

"Dangerous not at least because it encroaches on the foundation of western civilization: inviolability of private ownership," he stressed.

"The main problem is that the modern world is already teetering on the brink of trust". And this "compulsory expropriation" of private ownership "will most likely trigger a chain reaction - outflow of capitals through the European Union, the crash of the banking system, financial collapse, industrial halt and mass unemployment," he forecasts.