THIRD CONTRACT KILLING EVOKES MEMORIES OF 1990'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 011533

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/RUS
TREASURY COX/ALIKONIS/BAKER
COMMERCE FOR 4231/IEP/EUR JBROUGHER
NSC FOR GRAHAM AND MCKIBBON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2016
TAGS: ECON EFIN ETTC PREL PTER RS
SUBJECT: THIRD CONTRACT KILLING EVOKES MEMORIES OF 1990'S

REF: A. MOSCOW 10248

B. MOSCOW 10603

Classified By: Econ M/C Quanrud, Reasons 1.4 (b/d)


1. (C) Summary. Vneshtorgbank banker Alexander Plokhin was
gunned down October 11 in an apparent contract killing, the
third in Moscow in a month. Foreign investors are growing
increasingly concerned by the perception of lawlessness in
the streets of Moscow, although local business leaders are
taking this latest killing in stride so far. Separately, the
press is reporting that authorities have apprehended suspects
in Deputy Central Bank Chair Kozlov's murder case. All this
evokes memories of 1990s violence in Moscow. Further
violence could undermine what many Russians considered one of
Putin's greatest successes: the return of public order. End
Summary.

Plokhin
--------------


2. (U) As commentators and analysts still try to make sense
of the recent killings of Deputy Central Bank Chairman Kozlov
and human rights journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the apparent
contract murder of banker Alexander Plokhin this week evoked
memories of the early 1990s when business partners and mafia
alike resorted to guns to settle disputes. According to the
press, Plokhin, director of an affiliate branch of
state-owned Vneshtorgbank (VTB),was shot in the head as he
got off the elevator to his Moscow apartment on October 11.
Authorities suspect an accomplice outside tipped off the
shooter as Plokhin entered the building. Plokhin's relatives
told the press that he had received death threats in the
past, but had opted not to employ bodyguards. Plokhin worked
for Vneshtorgbank for the past 9 years. In the mid-1990s, he
headed Moscow City Council's budgetary and finance committee.


3. (C) According to Deutsche UFG chief economist, Yaroslav
Lissovolik (strictly protect),foreign investors are
increasingly concerned about this latest round of contract
killings. However, he said that Russian contacts in Moscow's
banking community are not particularly worried, but they were
puzzled about Plokhin's murder and could not offer
explanations. The president of the Association of Russian
Banks suggested to the press on October 12 that Plokhin's
murder was not the result of turf wars in the banking sector
as some have speculated, but a general "criminalization of
society."

Kozlov murder case update
--------------


4. (U) The press on October 11 reported Moscow authorities
apprehended three suspects on October 3 in connection with
the Kozlov case, but were denying that the suspects were in
their custody. Two of the three suspects are Ukrainian
nationals. The press reports that the three claim that an
unknown intermediary approached them at the end of summer to
kill "a bandit who swindles good people" for $20,000. One of
the suspects turned himself in to the police after finding
out on television the identity of the victim. Subsequently,
the two other suspects were apprehended. According to the
press, the suspects refuse to cooperate in identifying the
intermediary because they fear retribution.


5. (C) Comment. Whereas the Kozlov and Politkovskaya murders
had political overtones, Plokhin was a mid-level banker.
Plokhin's murder has received more attention because it is
the third contract killing in Moscow in a month. The only
common factor in all three murders so far is that they all
appear to have been contracted and professionally executed.
However, bankers have been regular targets of assassination
with Plokhin the seventh banker to be killed in the past six
years, according to the press. Many are closely following the
Kremlin's response to these contract murders, as they
undermine a central pillar of Putin's public support: the
perception that Putin brought stability and order to Russia
after the chaotic 1990s. End Comment.
RUSSELL