Putin and entourage steal USD 1000 billion from Russia - Bill Browder

Browder, an international financier and investor, shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

"Putin knows that if he ever loses power, he will end up in jail, lose his wealth, and possibly his life. So, he is trying to hold on to power in any possible way. There are also other oligarchs and corrupt officials whose wealth and status depend on the current Putin system. So there are people who need to keep this system intact for a very long time and they have a lot of resources to do so. They have stolen enormous amounts of money in the last 22 years. I would estimate that Putin and thousands of people in his entourage stole a trillion dollars from the Russian state, that is, a USD 1000 billion over a 22-year period," the financier emphasized.

Bill Browder believes that Putin has overextended himself by starting a war against Ukraine, which he is now losing. Russia has lost many soldiers, about 67,000 [at the time of an interview], and a large amount of military equipment. 

"Putin has put himself in a situation where, if Ukraine wins this war, the Russians may say: "Enough! We don't want a loser president!" It is plausible that at a certain point Putin's regime will not be able to support its own weight. If that happens, the question is who will be there to pick up the pieces. There are several options: either another Putin-like politician, or the whole system will completely collapse and no Russian will want someone like Putin in power anymore, but someone who will bring Russia democracy and change. Unfortunately, the second scenario is unlikely. But nothing is impossible, because Putin is now in a shaky position due to the fatal mistake of invading Ukraine," Browder noted.