Top Russian Central Banker Killed in Contract 'Hit'

by Patrick Lunsford, CollectionIndustry.com

Reuters is reporting today that a top policymaking official in Russia?s central bank has been killed in an apparent contract assassination.

Andrei Kozlov, first deputy chairman of the Central Bank, was shot in the head and chest late Wednesday night as he left a soccer match between the Bank?s employees. He was pronounced dead a few hours later at a local hospital. His driver was killed immediately at the scene.

According to Bloomberg, authorities believe the hit may have been related to his work at the central bank. Kozlov led the central bank’s fight against corruption in Russia’s banking industry.

?There are people in Russia who do not want the transparent, law-abiding and rational system he was creating,? said Richard Hainsworth, chief executive officer of RusRating, an independent bank rating company in Moscow, told Bloomberg. ?His reforms have pushed up the price of black money, of giving bribes.?