MOSCOW, July 5: The Russian central bank said Tuesday it expected the capital flight from Russia to get worse in the second half of 2005, with $5.5 billion (4.6 billion euros) set to leave the country, according to preliminary statistics.

The figure is a sharp increase on the first half, when $900 million were transferred out by international investors.

Nevertheless, the $5.5 billion projected figure represents an improvement compared with the $6.2 billion lost in the second half of 2004.

Total capital transfers out of Russia increased five-fold during 2004 as the Yukos affair and a banking crisis made international investors wary of the risks to business in the former Soviet Republic.—AFP