Russian spy ring suspect Christopher Metsos believed to have fled Cyprus
Christopher Metsos, wanted by the US for involvement in a Russian spy ring has gone missing in Cyprus, less than 24 hours after being released on bail. Photograph: Cyprus Police/EPA
A man believed to be one of Russia's most capable agents, arrested in Cyprus this week as a suspect in the spy ring, has almost certainly fled the island, the justice minister, Loucas Louca, said.
Less than 72 hours after he was last seen on Cyprus, speculation is mounting that Christopher Metsos, the alleged paymaster of a Russian network operating under deep cover in the US, was allowed to "disappear" by a government which caved in to pressure from Russia.
The Canadian passport holder, who was arrested at Larnaca airport as he was about to board a plane for Budapest, was reported missing on Wednesday.
As local authorities began a manhunt for him on Thursday, the Greek Cypriot president, Demetris Christofias, was hosting a reception to mark the arrival on the island of Gazprombank, one of Russia's largest banks.
For Christofias, the son of a construction worker who was educated in Moscow and speaks Russian fluently, the event was a rehearsal for a visit that is grander still: the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, arrives on the island in October.
"It is quite clear that the government didn't want to rock the boat," said a veteran reporter on the Cypriot daily Politis. "It was a calculated decision."
Cypriot politicians, pundits and newspapers are warming to the theory that the suspected spymaster's "escape" was the easiest way out for a communist administration eager to avoid Moscow's wrath.
Since the collapse of communism an estimated 20,000 Russians have settled on the island. The community's impact on the seaside town of Limassol is such that it is known as "little Moscow". Four Russian dailies and a host of lifestyle magazines have popped up in the city in the last decade alone. Oligarchs, citing its crime-free life, often leave their families on the island and commute to Moscow by private jet.
"Their children are brought to classes in chauffeur-driven cars," said the headmistress of one school in Limassol. "We're talking about spectacular wealth."
Increasingly, too, it is Russians who are buying real estate on the island. A group of €3m-plus villas, currently being built in Cape St George and among the most luxurious on the island, are being snapped up almost exclusively by Moscovites.
Even before Cyprus's entry to the EU, the majority of the island's 14,000 offshore companies were Russian-owned.
In the 1990s an estimated $1bn a month was flowing out of Russia into Cypriot banks.
This week the Central Bank of Cyprus said that the figure had risen considerably: €18.7bn (£15.5bn) of foreign investment poured into local banks in May alone and most of it was Russian.
"From February 2010 we have seen the beginnings of a steady rebound in international banking which can be attributed primarily to Russian deposits," said Miltos Michaelas at the privately-run Marfin Laiki bank. "We estimate that the volume will increase, already deposits for June have risen considerably … 50% to 60% of our clientele is Russian."
More than at any other time, the Cypriot government is keen to promote the ties. Harilaos Stavrakis, the economy minister, said this week that the government had begun the process of awarding citizenship to Russians depositing large amounts in banks.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/ju ... her-metsos
If there is governmental involvement here then Cyprus is playing an 'interesting' but perhaps risky game. What are the likely short and long term consequences for the island, in general terms and also in relation to CyProb?
