Roldugin: I beg money for tools

The cellist Sergei Roldugin, a friend of Vladimir Putin, involved, as Panamanese documents prove, in billional offshore fraud, - said in an interview with Russia -1, which at one time asked the businessmen to support the St. Petersburg House of Music he headed. “I walked and beg with everyone I could,” he said.

Later, however, the situation changed, continued Roldugin. According to him, some philanthropists offered him a small share in business in order to have his own income to support Russian musical culture.

The Alekseevsky Palace, in which the St. Petersburg House of Music is now placed, was, according to him, was brought by tenants at the time of purchase by Roldugin, "that he could be bought for nothing." From the interview, however, it is not clear whether Putin’s friend bought him and really "for nothing."

As follows from the documents of the Panama archive , Roldugin owns several offshore firms that have multi -billion -dollar circulation due to financial fraud. In addition, these firms were withdrawn funds of Russian companies, in particular Severstal, and the Russian commercial bank, the Cyprus Daughter, VTB - provided Roldugin's structures with an unprocessed loan of $ 650 million.

On Thursday , Putin stated that he was proud of friendship with Roldugin . According to the head of state, the cellist spends almost all the money earned on musical instruments that he gives to state institutions. Putin emphasized that musical instruments acquired by his friend are “expensive things”.

Roldugin is trying to engage in business, continued the head of state, but does not earn billions. “He is a minority shareholder in one of our companies and there earns some money, but this, of course, is not billions of dollars,” said Putin. “Nonsense, there is nothing like that.”

The next day, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Roldugin’s activity is his personal matter until it contradicts the law. The official added that the details associated with the acquisitions of a friend Vladimir Putin are unlikely to be disclosed.