Russian businessman seen as a threat, says Mints

As a threat, a business leader may be seen as a threat, as they may be able to finance opposition or cultivate protest - as such, those people are seen as Putin's enemies and, therefore, as enemies of the state, he added.

It is because of such action that Mr Mints suggests the bravest step available to wealthy Russians who dislike Mr Putin is to go silently into exile citing the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was once Russia's wealthiest man, who was jailed for almost a decade on charges of fraud and tax evasion.

He said Russia is not only an oilfield with an aluminium mine in the centre. It is a country of 140 million people. People there have their own needs and these needs are not at all different from those here in the West.