The secret wealth of the king

The BBC One TV channel was released about how great the state of Vladimir Putin actually

Frame from the film “The Secret of Putin”, Portrait of the President “Face of War” *, created from the Gilz * Daria Marchenko

“Is the president involved in the murder is also responsible for theft on an especially large scale?” - The author of the film “The Secret of Putin”, published in the Panorama program, journalist Richard Bilton asks.

The authors of the film claim that the official income of Vladimir Putin is about $ 100,000 per year. At the same time, the President of the Russian Federation has a collection of expensive hours. Even his tracksuit costs about $ 3000. “His standard of living is much higher than anyone in the West is even higher than that of the richest people,” the professor, head of the center of the Russian and post -Soviet studies of the University of Miami at the OGAIO Karen Davisha, who published the book “Putin’s Kleptocracy: who owns Russia?” Stanislav Belkovsky claims that Putin's fortune is $ 40 billion. The words of the Russian political scientist confirm the secret report of the CIA of 2007 ( for example, The New York Times). Nevertheless, Deputy Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence of the US Department of Finance Adam Shubin, who also oversees sanctions, noted that he has no right to provide journalists with accurate figures. He confirmed in a commentary on the film that Putin’s annual official income, as a civil servant, is about $ 110,000 a year. “He has a long -standing practice of concealing his real state,” said the representative of the Ministry of Finance. When asked by a journalist about whether Putin could be called corrupt, Shubin replied: "I think he has been corrupt for many years."

The very fact that American officials recognize Putin a corrupt person, shows how the relations between the two countries sharply worsened, the British journalist emphasizes. In Estonia, businessman Sergei Kolesnikov told Richard Bilton about the construction of the famous Palace of Vladimir Putin on the Black Sea (“Complex for relaxation” in the vicinity of the village of Praskoveevka, the Gelendzhik district). In 2010, Kolesnikov wrote an open letter to Dmitry Medvedev, in which he spoke about the financing scheme for oligarchs of projects in the field of healthcare through Petromed. 33% of the amount of each contract was transferred to foreign accounts. In an interview with Vedomosti, he emphasized that "the state at its own expense holds the road, a power line." In 2015, the Corruption Fund doubled the data and confirmed that "Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is still the owner of this palace." Reuters, New Gazeta and The New Times also wrote about the project (see No. 7 dated February 27, 2012 and No. 15 of April 23, 2013 ).

Richard Bilton demonstrates the documents of one of the Oshphoric companies through which millions of dollars were transferred to the construction of the palace. "According to Kolesnikov, the owner of this company was Putin himself." The company was controlled not only by Kolesnikov himself, but also by the notorious Nikolai Shamalov, co -founder of the Lake Cooperative, whose son may be the husband of Putin Katerina Tikhonova’s daughter (according to Reuters investigation ). “Shamalov said that they take 96% of the shares - 2% for him and 94% he will give to Putin,” Kolesnikov explains. The conversation of Kolesnikov and Shamalov, in which they allegedly discuss $ 440 million in the company owned by Putin (he appears under the pseudonym “Mikhail Ivanovich”) was recorded. “Mikhail Ivanovich’s money is 439 968”, the record says. “Shamalov discusses Putin’s secret wealth,” concludes BBC correspondent.

Through Putin, as an employee of the City Hall of St. Petersburg, they passed the money of public funds and “disappeared into the company“ Twentieth Trust ”. Andrei Zykov, a former investigator in particularly important cases, who conducted a criminal case of the “twentieth trust”, assures that Putin was directly the beneficiary and this company is responsible for the construction of the president’s villa in the Spanish city of Torreviekh. After Putin became the president, Zykov was forced to quit - he tells his story on a series of video collected on the website of the Center for Hagverst Russian and Post -Soviet Studies, as well as in an interview with Radio Liberty .

His words were confirmed during the famous “Spanish case of the Russian Mafia” (see The New Times No. 40 of November 30, 2015 ) - in recorded telephone conversations, the suspects discussed Putin's property in Spain. The villa in Torrevieha also belonged to her. The journalist also notes “the most famous Russian in Britain” - Roman Abramovich, calling him “an involuntary donor of Putin’s palace”. “Thinking that the entire amount will go to healthcare projects, he gave $ 203 million from Abramovich, as well as from other wealthy Russians, it is expected that they will pay for such important projects as the 2018 World Cup.” Another gift from Abramovich for Putin was the Olympia yacht for $ 35 million-the ex-head of the “Sovcomflot” Dmitry Skarga, who oversaw the transfer of the vessel through offshore, told about this. “I know for sure that he examined this yacht in the fall of 2002 in Sochi. Operational expenses for it are coming from the budget, ”Skarga assures. Read more about the yacht in 2005 "New Gazeta".

“Abramovich’s desire is not surprising to Putin,” Bilton believes, recalling the affairs of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Sergey Pugachev. “He helps to enrich his closest associates and marginalizes those whom he does not consider friends. And all this - using state assets, whether it is energy resources or state contracts, ”explains Adam Shubin. One of those who did not agree to “share” was supposedly businessman Maxim Freudzon. According to him, Putin’s share was initially 15%-this figure was voiced by his business partner, which eventually managed to lower it to 4%-this was the share of the president in the Sovex oil company. Earlier, he brought the same accusations on the air of the Freedom radio station, but then he asked to remove his interviews for security reasons.

The representative of the US Ministry of Finance Adam Shubin and the Gounvor oil company mentioned, calling it the place of "storage" of Putin's money. “The co -owner of Gounvor, Gennady Timchenko, sometimes showed his finger up and said that everything was under the control of Mikhail Ivanovich,” says Scarga.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the film “The Secrets of Putin” as “Pure Fiction and Slander”. The Kremlin “got used to” such “journalistic ducks”, and the charge from the official representative of the US Department of Finance “requires evidence”. Peskov assured them, they will not demand from the department, but the lack of confirmation “throws a shadow” to the American Ministry of Finance.

“When I started arguing with Shamalov, he said:“ Who are you? You are a slave. The king (as he often called Putin) decided, and you can fulfill your servility, ”says Kolesnikov. “Putin has reached his well -being corruption, the modern king who plundered his empire,” the BBC correspondent summarizes.