‘One of the serious threats faced by Russia’s economy at the moment is the business growing less legitimate on the one hand and money-laundering on the other. In this country, the lending crisis might become one of the stimulants for illegal practices’ trickling into business structures,’ Europe-Asia Information and Consulting Center’s GD Oleg Borisov said to an UrBC reporter.

Meanwhile, experts get increasingly alarmed by the fact that most companies’ systemic risks keep rising. Apart from economic problems, businesses are also struggling with economic security-related issues.

‘Our enterprises are finding it more and more difficult to get a loan at the bank. This means that certain organized crime groups who have plentiful funds (including cash) might try to offer their sources to small and medium enterprises. As a matter of fact, the owner of the business might see a ‘criminal loan’ as a solution to all of their problems. Reality, however, proves otherwise: a deal of such sort normally results in a complete business failure, since it raises the number of threats a company will have to face in the future,’ Borisov explained.

‘Firstly, the company will be facing fiscal risks, as it will probably have to hide the dubious sums from the taxation authorities and to deal in double entry and in tax evasion on a monthly basis as the loan interest will have to be kept unheeded.

Secondly, such a business is highly likely to be taken over by these organized crime groups. Once a business owner agrees to try an illegal contract, he or she grows prone to blackmail and extortion. Most importantly, this jeopardizes not only the business itself, but also the life and health of the person themselves as well as of their family members.

Thirdly, taking a loan in such a way means taking part in money-laundering on the country-wide scale,’ Europe-Asia Information and Consulting Center’s General Director said.