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‘RBC’ publishes a new investigative report on property owned in and around the Presidential Residence in Valdai

The news agency RBC, whose top editors were recently forced out and replaced by staff from a state-run media outlet, has released a new (perhaps final) investigative report about property owned and occupied by figures close to Vladimir Putin. (It was reporting like this—namely an article about construction work managed by a woman rumored to be the president's daughter—that is believed to have provoked the crackdown on RBC's independence.) The report, titled “RBC Investigation: Who Settled Near the Presidential Residence in Valdai,” is credited to three journalists, two of whom are marked by asterisks, indicating that these individuals no longer work at RBC. You can read the full article here (in Russian). Meduza summarizes some of the report's main findings below.

Several people believed to be close to Vladimir Putin own property near the Presidential Residence on the coast of Valdai Lake. RBC's investigation looks at who owns the land in Valdai and who spends time there, so close to Putin's home away from Moscow and St. Petersburg.

According to RBC's report, Putin's Valdai residence is divided into two sections: there's a 151-hectare (373-acre) plot of land owned solely by the Russian federal government, and permanently utilized by the Federal Protection Service (the Kremlin's secret service). The second plot of land, meanwhile, is about 98 hectares (242 acres); it's owned by a private company based in St. Petersburg called “Prime.”

According to reports, Prime is owned by a company that has belonged to Yuri Kovalchuk (who's widely known as “Putin's banker”) and his son, Boris, since November 2004. Before that, the company was owned by Viktor Myachin, one of Yuri Kovalchuk's business partners. According to the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, Myachin was one of the original shareholders in the infamous “Ozero” cooperative (an investment circle associated with Putin's inner circle).

Prime has several notable subsidiaries, including one company that owns luxury housing on the Stony Islands in St. Petersburg, where you'll also find property owned by many of Putin's oldest friends, like Gennady Timchenko, Nikolai Shamalov, Yuri Kovalchuk, and Arkady Rotenberg. Another of Prime's subsidiaries is a company that co-owns the private ski resort where Putin's rumored daughter was reportedly married, according to the news agency Reuters.

It's unclear how Prime came to own almost 40 percent of the land on which the Presidential Residence in Valdai stands. Records show that the purchase was made in December 2003, though there's no mention of who sold the rights to Prime. According to RBC, only the Kremlin would have had the authority to approve the sale, if the government still owned the land, until this point.

The Federal Protection Service refused to share any information about the president's Valdai residence, saying the data is classified. Representatives from Prime and its parent company told RBC that they comply with all local laws in Valdai.

RBC reporters also found that the Kremlin now rents the land owned by Prime, including the facilities built on the land, which include a 37,000-square-foot residential area, an 8,665-square-foot sauna, two restaurants, a golf course, two helicopter landing pads, and much more—even including a church. The government's current lease on this property runs until the end of 2019.

According to local eyewitness accounts, there's been a major construction project underway at the Presidential Residence for the past several years, with large orders for diesel power generators. Divers have also been spotted working in Valdai Lake.

According to RBC's report, the town outside the Presidential Residence, Yashcherovo, has also developed into a settlement for Russia's new elite. What was once home to no more than 30 people is now apparently where you can find former and current high-ranking members of the Federal Protection Service. One resident told RBC that locals have taken to calling the area “Kremlin 3.”

Putin is a frequent guest at the lake, say locals, who have now grown accustomed to the constant noise of helicopters overhead. [...] “When they blew up our plane in Egypt, things really kicked up. At least 10 helicopters flew in,” said a woman who lives in a town near the Presidential Residence.

RBC