VOA标准英语2013--Cyprus Crisis Burns Russian Investors

 

Cyprus Crisis Burns Russian Investors²

For years, construction companies in Cyprus lured⁴ Russians to invest in the Mediterranean⁵ island. Over the last decade, 40,000 Russians moved to Cyprus. They now make up five percent of the population.

The lure³, however, was more than just trading 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 office towers of Moscow City, Moscow's new financial district, languish⁶ half-empty, Russians now have $32 billion deposited in banks in Cyprus.

Tiny Cyprus is now the largest foreign investor¹ in Russia, a nation with an economy 75 times larger.

Minimizing taxes

Mark Galeotti, an international affairs professor at New York University, tracks Russian money movements. He explains why some Russians have chosen to place their money in Cyprus banks. "It's been the den⁷ for all kinds of dirty money, criminal money, but also money just avoiding tax in Russia. Secondly⁸, it has been a turntable for a lot of Russian oligarchs. Rich Russians move money out of Russia and then reinvest it to take advantage of a lower corporate⁹ tax rate,” he said.

For Russia's ultra rich, Cyprus was a key to minimizing taxes. Galeotti said Cyprus also emerged, though, as a safe banking¹⁰ haven¹¹ for Russia's new middle class.

“It is a place where you can go, and enjoy a nice holiday and perhaps also stash¹² a little bit of your money, so you feel you have something safely outside of Russia, just in case,” he said. “There was a sense that Cyprus gave you security, as well as a suntan."

All that ended this week with the Cyprus banking crisis, and the decision to slap 40 percent taxes on all deposits over $130,000.

Protesting taxation¹³ on deposits

In Cyprus, protesters chant in Greek. But the street protests also have been sprinkled with Russian flags - and protest signs in Russian.

Maxim¹⁴ Mokeyev, executive director of Evans Property Services, a Moscow real estate company, said Russians see the tax as a hostile act.

"People take it very personally,” Mokeyev said in Moscow. “It is a trust issue that is completely gone. Because they have confiscated¹⁵ 40 percent of the deposits."

He said Russians believe that currency controls could last for years, and that the oligarchs are fighting to get their money out now.

"The almost hourly flights to Cyprus were almost full of Russian businessmen trying to do it the Russian way, to use their connections, do whatever they can, to try to be different, to get their money out,” he said.

Mokeyev predicts that values for Cyprus vacation homes could drop by 50 percent as Russian buyers stay away.

"Cyprus has completely lost any trust from any investor or anyone who wants to park their money anywhere," he said.

And so, while Cyprus may remain a safe haven for Russian tourists, it is no longer to be a safe haven for Russian investors. 

1 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

4 lured   

吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The child was lured into a car but managed to escape. 那小孩被诱骗上了车，但又设法逃掉了。
• Lured by the lust of gold,the pioneers pushed onward. 开拓者在黄金的诱惑下，继续奋力向前。

5 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

6 languish   

vi.变得衰弱无力，失去活力，（植物等）凋萎

参考例句：

• Without the founder's drive and direction,the company gradually languished.没有了创始人的斗志与指引，公司逐渐走向没落。
• New products languish on the drawing board.新产品在计划阶段即告失败。

7 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

8 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

9 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

10 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

11 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

12 stash   

v.藏或贮存于一秘密处所；n.隐藏处

参考例句：

• Stash away both what you lost and gained,for life continues on.将得失深藏心底吧，为了那未来的生活。
• That's supposed to be in our private stash.这是我的私人珍藏。

13 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

14 maxim   

n.格言，箴言

参考例句：

• Please lay the maxim to your heart.请把此格言记在心里。
• "Waste not,want not" is her favourite maxim.“不浪费则不匮乏”是她喜爱的格言。

15 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。