A new class of oligarchs could rise from Putin’s seizure of Western assets, says an expert in Russian finance

A new class of oligarchs could rise from Putin’s seizure of Western assets, says an expert in Russian finance

Has announced it's considering seizing the assets of foreign companies that exit the country — and it could create a new class of oligarchs, an expert on Russian finance told Insider. Those who manage to acquire ownership of seized assets at fire-sale prices through could become the new class of tycoons, said Hassan Malik, a senior sovereign analyst at Boston-based investment management consultancy Loomis Sayles. "There's certainly a risk that you just see the creation of a new class of crony capitalists or oligarchs," Malik told Insider. As international companies they are leaving behind assets such as factories and offices that are in working condition. has threatened to take over such idle but productive assets, telling government officials the Kremlin would seek to "introduce external management and then transfer these enterprises to those who actually want to work," according to the Russia's Economy Ministry has suggested the assets could be auctioned off, reported on March 10. The auctions could mirror a controversial 1990s "loans-for-shares" program launched by former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, Malik told Insider. At the time, rich Russian businessmen and banks close to the authorities lent the government money in exchange for stakes in state-owned industrial companies. The