RUMMAGE SALE….

One untapped source of money is the Kremlin’s property office, which manages the hundreds of billions of dollars in assets the Russian state took over in 1992 from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Vladimir Kozhin, who runs the office now, told the press he expects President Putin to issue a decree that will expand his control over state property abroad, which by one estimate amounts to over $50 billion in 78 countries. The Kremlin and the Foreign Ministry are now conducting an inventory. When complete, some of the property will be sold. The property office and the Treasury can then fight about who gets the proceeds.