In Cyprus deal Russia may have the last laugh

Europe won this round. But Russia may have the last laugh.As part of a $13 billion deal to a bail out a pair of bloated Cyprus banks, European officials Monday won the Nicosia government’s backing for a painful “haircut” on bank accounts that will inflict maximum financial pain on Russian companies and wealthy depositors who have long used the tiny island nation as a tax shelter.The last-minute deal, reached just hours before a European ultimatum to cut off the country’s financial lifelines, is aimed at reining in a Cypriot banking system that had gorged on tax-dodging oligarchs and failed Gre…

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