At a news conference after the meeting, Viktor Zubkov said, in part:

"I have just held a meeting of the Interdepartmental Working Group on Revealing and Curbing Illegal Financial Transactions. Its main goal is to increase the efficiency of departments involved in revealing and curbing financial operations (including those performed through fly-by-night companies) to launder illegal revenues, fund terrorism, evade taxes and customs duties, and receive bribes.

"I have formed the group. It includes the heads of Rosfinmonitoring (the Federal Service for Financial Regulation), the Prosecutor General's Office, the Investigative Committee, the FSB (the Federal Security Service) , the Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Service for Drug Control, the Federal Taxation Service, the Federal Customs Service, the Federal Service for Financial Markets and the Central Bank of Russia.

We have determined a number of priorities – the elimination of illegal that are now being used to take money out of the country, including those that involve money laundering through fly-by-night companies. These tasks require more effective and coordinated cooperation.

We have also identified the spheres in which we will focus on countering these activities – primarily the energy industry, housing and utilities, which are directly linked with the daily life of our people. We have paid special attention – and will do so in the future – to cleaning up the banking sphere. We must be very careful here and make sure no inconvenience is caused to the people who have accounts in these banks. However, our group will coordinate actions against individuals and companies that organise or use illegal schemes to transfer abroad huge amounts of money gained through tax or customs evasion or corruption.

All departments included into the group have reaffirmed the importance of coordinating efforts at this level. This will help us to fulfil the president's instructions. We have already started this work. In two weeks I will listen to the reports on the first results in the directions we have outlined today."

Replying to a question about the scope of the shadow financial market in the country and the drain of capital, Mr Zubkov said: "We have discussed this today. The figures are huge, running into hundreds of billions of roubles. Participants in the meetings mentioned the financial organisations involved in these illegal transactions. The work we have started will allow us to destroy illegal schemes and reduce these figures. Different schemes are being used. The individuals who run them will be held accountable. There are also companies suspected by law enforcement of involvement in illegal dealings. Our bodies will conduct additional audits and inquiries to see once again how transparently they are working in our market."

In conclusion, Mr Zubkov emphasised that the group's work will not harm law-abiding businesses.

"Quite the contrary, honest and fair business people will work even better because dubious things like dirty money only impede normal operations. Nothing will harm law-abiding businesses. The work we have launched will not have any effect on honest businesses," Mr Zubkov said.

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Interdepartmental Working Group on Revealing and Curbing Illegal Financial Transactions

Viktor Zubkov – First Deputy Prime Minister (Head of the Group)

Yevgeny Zabarchyuk – Deputy Chief of the Government Staff (Deputy Head of the Group)

Igor Alyoshin – Deputy Minister of the Interior

Svetlana Andryushchenko – Deputy Head of Federal Taxation Service

Alexander Batalov – Chief of the Department on Coordination and Cooperation of the Federal Service for Financial Regulation (Secretary of the Group)

Alexander Buksman – First Deputy Prosecutor-General

Alexander Vasilyev – Deputy Head of the Federal Customs Service

Sergei Ignatyev – Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia

Vladimir Kalanda – First Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Drug Control

Nikolai Kruglikov – Deputy Chief of the Secretariat of First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov

Yelena Kuritsyna – Deputy Director of the Federal Service for Financial Markets

Vaily Piskaryov – Deputy Head of the Investigative Committee

Yury Chikhanchin – Head of the Federal Service for Financial Regulation

Yury Yakovlev – Director of the FSB Economic Security Service