On paper, Russian President Vladimir Putin looks like a humble statesman with a modest revenue.
The Kremlin claims that Putin earns an annual wage of $140,000. His publicly disclosed property embrace an 800-square foot condominium, a trailer, and three automobiles.
However in keeping with some specialists, he could be the wealthiest man on the planet with property totaling up to $200 billion.
Whereas that could be a ridiculous amount of cash for anybody to have, this determine might not be so far-fetched for Putin. Right here’s why:
Luxurious watch assortment
Putin is usually seen sporting high-end luxurious watches which might be retailed for a number of instances his supposed annual revenue.
He has been pictured sporting Patek Philippe’s Perpetual Calendar watch price $60,000 and allegedly owns a $500,000 A. Lange & Sohne Toubograph, in addition to different fancy designs.
$1.4 Billion Black Sea mansion
Putin is rumored to be the proprietor of a lovely 190,000 square-foot mansion sitting atop a cliff that overlooks the Black Sea. This coastal property is reputed as the biggest non-public residence within the nation and serves as his non-public palace endearingly referred to as “Putin’s Country Cottage”.
The property is Putin’s playland, boasting frescoed ceilings, a marble swimming pool lined with statues of Greek gods, a 27,000 square-foot visitor home, spas with conventional hammams, a musical parlor, dressing rooms for all his workers, an amphitheater, a state-of-the-art ice hockey rink, a Vegas-style on line casino, a nightclub geared up with stripper poles, a barroom showcasing greater than $100,000 of wine and spirits, an underground tasting room overlooking the water, and rather more.
Many of the mansion is reportedly embellished by an unique luxurious Italian model referred to as Citterio Atena together with Louis XIV type sofas, $500,000 in eating room furnishings, and a $54,000 bar desk. It even has decked-out loos with fancy $850 Italian bathroom brushes and $1,250 bathroom paper holders.
On high of all of the extravagant furnishings, an annual $2 million is spent simply to take care of the property’s landscaping by a 40-person workers.
The Black Sea Mansion was designed by Italian architect Lanfranco Cirillo and value $1.4 billion to assemble. In keeping with a Reuters investigation, the cash for this extravagant venture was supposedly laundered via the nation’s 1.3-trillion-ruble nationwide venture referred to as “Health” during which the state purchased costly medical tools from an organization owned by Putin’s buddies Shamalov and Gorelov at a a lot larger price than the market value. Information present that the 2 males despatched round $56 million to Swiss financial institution accounts of a Belize firm. Then the Belize account transferred roughly $48 million to an account managed by Medea Funding- an organization managed by Cirillo himself. Moscow Occasions reviews that Shamalov, Gorelov, and Cirillo denied all allegations.
The Kremlin denies Putin’s possession of the palace saying it belongs to a rich businessman. However Russian analysts name it a blatant lie, saying that no businessman can have properties guarded by the FSB (Russia’s federal safety service) with a no-fly zone over it.
Plane, helicopters, and automobiles
Other than the Black Sea Mansion and 19 different homes and 700 automobiles, Putin supposedly has a set of 58 plane and helicopters together with a $716 million greenback aircraft referred to as “The Flying Kremlin” that has a bathroom product of gold. Not shocking contemplating his style for grandiose, neoclassical structure.
And to maintain his choices open by land, air, or sea, he additionally has a $100-million-dollar megayacht designed by a nuclear submarine maker from the Russian navy.
$200 Billion Greenback Blackmail
The $200 billion determine was estimated by financier Invoice Browder who, in a testimony to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in 2017, mentioned that Putin amassed most of his wealth after a Moscow court docket jailed oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2003 for fraud and tax evasion:
“After Khodorkovsky’s conviction, the other oligarchs went to Putin and asked him what they needed to do to avoid sitting in the same cage as Khodorkovsky. From what followed, it appeared that Putin’s answer was, “50%” He wasn’t saying 50% for the Russian authorities or the presidential administration of Russia, however 50% for Vladimir Putin personally.”
On high of all this, the well-known Panama Papers revealed a community of secret offshore offers and loans price $2 billion pointing to Putin in 2016.
However after all, Vladimir denies all these allegations, solely admitting to a completely different type of riches:
“I am the wealthiest man, not just in Europe but in the whole world: I collect emotions. I am wealthy in that the people of Russia have twice entrusted me with the leadership of a great nation such as Russia. I believe that is my greatest wealth.”
And regardless of all of the paper trails and testimonies stacked towards him, the Russian president continues his charade of being a dutiful bureaucrat with a easy, middle-class life-style.
A model of this story was initially revealed on Fortune.com on March 2, 2022.
