Head of the State Duma’s Committee for Financial Markets Anatoly Aksakov proposed to set up an offshore zone on the Crimean peninsula. At the same time, he noted that it will not happen in the near future.
Aksakov noted that Kaliningrad and Primorsky Krai have actually become offshore zones.
“If this is a successful experience, then I think that this experience can be applied to Crimea, and some will take advantage of this opportunity, including foreigners,” RIA Novosti cited the PM as saying.
Speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, Anatoly Aksakov noted that the idea to set up an offshore zone in Crimea appeared in 2014. “When sanctions were imposed against Crimea, there was an idea that the Russians, as well as, perhaps, foreigners, at least from the East, could start working in Crimea if an offshore and favorable legal environment were created there. Now, since there are already two offshore companies set up in the Primorsky Territory and in the Kaliningrad region, we can see how it works. It is possible that we will offer to apply the experience of these two offshore companies to Crimea," he stressed.
The deputy also explained that the government rejects the projects of a Crimean offshore due to their incompleteness. "The idea is completely realizable, and if we manage to provoke the government's interest in the project, it is quite possible that it will be supported," Aksakov said.
The head of the department of stock markets and financial engineering of the Faculty of Finance and the Banking Business of RANEPA, former deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Russia Konstantin Korischenko, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, drew attention to the rapid obsolescence of offshore practices. "In itself, the creation of offshore zones does not promise anything but a headache. The whole world, including Russia, is actively fighting the offshore practice, and it’s difficult to talk about the future of a Crimean offshore without having the details of the project. In general, I think that Crimea is not good as an offshore location, because according to all world jurisdictions, Crimean's territory has a controversial status," he stressed.
