For years, construction companies in Cyprus lured Russians to invest in the Mediterranean island.In less than a decade, 40,000 Russians moved to Cyprus, now making up five percent of the population.But the lure was more than just escaping Moscow's cold winters for fun in the sun.Cyprus offered low taxes, low regulation, and the security of the euro zone.While the glass towers of Moscow's new financial district languish half-empty, Russians now have $32 billion deposited in banks in Cyprus.Tiny Cyprus is now the largest foreign investor in Russia, a nation with an economy 75 times as big.Mark Galeotti tracks Russian money movements. He talked via Skype from New York University, where he is an international affairs professor,"It's been the den for all kinds of dirty money, criminal money, but also money just avoiding tax in Russia.Secondly, it has been a turntable for a lot of Russian oligarchs.”
