UFA, June 19. /TASS/. The financial reserves of the Islamic State terror group outlawed in Russia reach up to $300 mln, Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Yuri Kokov said at the Tenth International Meeting of High-Level Representatives on Security Issues in the Russian city of Ufa.
"According to UN experts, the financial reserves of ISIL [the former name of the Islamic State group - TASS] reach up to $300 mln," he said. "At the same time, terrorists continue their search for new sources of funding," Kokov added.
"The companies they control are engaged in stock market speculation, they invest in real estate and many legitimate sectors of economy, but they also participate in criminal businesses in various countries," the Russian security official pointed out. He said that organized transnational crime was one of the pillars of terrorist organizations. "Terrorists become more and more involved in criminal activities, which requires common approaches and international cooperation," he went on to say. "Revenues from arms and drug trafficking are particularly important for terrorists. Terrorist organizations seek to take control of drug trafficking routes from South and Southeast Asia, primarily from Afghanistan," he noted.
According to Kokov, terrorists also make money from transporting illegal immigrants from Middle East countries, North Africa and Afghanistan. "Facts show that the growing scale of illegal migration increases terrorist and extremist activities, fuel xenophobia and nationalist sentiment in countries that receive migrants," Kokov emphasized. "Terrorists try to hide in migrant flows into developed countries," he added.