$7.7Bln Left Russia in 3rd Quarter

The Central Bank confirmed Friday what many economists have been warning for months: Cash has been leaving the country at a fast and furious pace since July. Private sector net capital outflow in July-September totaled $7.7 billion, according to preliminary balance of payment figures posted on the Central Bank's web site -- an $11.4 billion turnaround from much-hyped net inflow of $3.7 billion in the previous quarter. The size of the outflow even surprised those economists who had said early in the quarter that capital flight was back, driven by pre-election jitters and the ongoing legal assault on Yukos, which began with the arrest of one of the oil major's top shareholders, Platon Lebedev, on July 2. The first quarter saw a net private capital outflow of just $100 million, while more than $8 billion left the country in the whole of 2002.