New Maplecroft Political Risk Atlas Lists Russia as Extreme Risk

Russia is growing as an economic power.

Unfortunately, though, it is also becoming increasingly risky to do business there.

The third annual Political Risk Atlas, released last week by Maplecroft, ranks Russia with 10 other countries considered as "extreme risk."

The Political Risk Atlas 2011 includes 41 risk indices evaluating 196 countries. It provides a comprehensive appraisal of traditional or dynamic' political risk areas including: conflict, terrorism, the rule of law, and the regulatory and business environment. The term dynamic' is used by Maplecroft to describe risks that can change rapidly as a result of actions by government, regional authorities or politically-motivated groups.

The Political Risk Atlas 2011 also focuses on emerging risk areas and structural political risk affecting longer term regime stability, such as resource security, human rights, climate change, infrastructure readiness, education and poverty.

The extreme risk' countries now include:

1. Somalia
2. DR Congo
3. Sudan
4. Myanmar
5. Afghanistan
6. Iraq
7. Zimbabwe
8. North Korea
9. Pakistan
10. Russia
11. Central African Republic

According to Maplecroft, Russia's increased risk profile reflects both the heightened activity of militant Islamist separatists in the Northern Caucasus and their ambition to strike targets elsewhere in the country.

Russia has suffered a number of devastating terrorist attacks during 2010, including the March 2010 Moscow Metro bombing, which killed 40 people. Such attacks have raised Russia's risk profile in the Terrorism Risk Index and Conflict and Political Violence Index. The country's poor performance is compounded by its extreme risk' ratings for its business environment, corporate governance and the endemic nature of corruption, which is prevalent throughout all tiers of government.