Years ago, people in America talked about the “3-6-3 Rule” in banking. Bankers paid out 3% interest on deposits, collected 6% interest on loans, and were on the golf course at 3 o'clock.
But now in Eastern Europe, bankers have a new rule. They collect deposits, book “loans” that are actually uncollateralized transfers to mysterious shell companies, then they ask taxpayers to pay back the deposits. These bankers don't waste time playing golf and instead buy giant palaces, airplanes, or superyachts.
The champion of this concept of banking is oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. Based in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, but with his family kept safe in Switzerland, Kolomoisky is best known as the billionaire former owner of Ukraine's largest bank PrivatBank.
Kolomoisky is extreme and eccentric even by the standard of his peers, the other Soviet oligarchs who continue to control the supposedly-democratic governments of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Latvia.
Perhaps because of watching too many James Bond movies, Kolomoisky installed a gigantic shark aquarium in his office, with a remote control on his desk that drops meat into the tank. Imagine sitting on the other side of that desk and trying to negotiate a business deal!
He also maintains a private army. The Wall Street Journal published an estimate that he provides $10 million per month to maintain militias in Dnipropetrovsk. Supposedly the purpose of these militias is to defend Ukraine, however this mission isn't always clear. His soldiers have been known to show up at board meetings of major Ukrainian corporations, armed, giving the directors advice they can't refuse. (more...)
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| Stalk'n da troof |
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