Political Quotes

“corruption is a major problem. It comes up all the time in discussions with both elected officials and with our companies who are doing business in Russia and who want to do business there. It is a problem that has been caused by a country that was for decades very centrally controlled by a very well established Communist hierarchy. When that basically fell apart, unfortunately, there were some who took advantage of the situation and some who established criminal elements. Criminal activity does exist in Russia and in some cases it is a severe problem. Now, what has happened, on a positive note, is that our law enforcement community, Louie Freeh from the FBI and others, have, in fact, taken a very proactive role to assist Russia in learning the kinds of techniques that we use in America to deal with the criminal element, both in the corporate setting as well as in the general populous. In fact, in one of my trips last year, Louie Freeh had a significant portion of his FBI establishment in Moscow for meetings with the senior law enforcement officials throughout Russia. So we are attempting, as well as are other western nations, to assist Russia in getting control of criminal activity. But I would be less than candid if I did not tell the gentleman that it still exists and it still is an impediment to future investment.”