Oopsie doopsie

Another contractor leaks indirect evidence that the ‘palace’ in Gelendzhik is, in fact, tied to Putin

The Moscow-based electrical equipment supplier and installer “Tesli” recently reported on its website that it was fulfilling a contract “at the Russian presidential administration’s residence” in the town of Praskoveyevka, a few miles from Vladimir Putin’s supposed “palace” in Gelendzhik. The news outlet Open Media was the first to report this information. Meduza summarizes how Tesli and a handful of other firms have inadvertently helped corroborate monumental corruption allegations against Russia’s president.

The presidential residence appeared on the company’s list of projects where Tesli specialists are now working. After the media drew attention to the listing, the company deleted the information, though it lives on in archived copies. Tesli has not commented on the matter publicly.

Tesli is now the fifth contractor that has indirectly verified that the lavish mansion under construction in Gelendzhik is related to President Vladimir Putin.

What other companies are (or were) involved in the “palace”?

• The Moscow-based company “Aerocomplex” equipped a helipad at the construction site.
• The Krasnodar-based firm “Optima Komplekt Stroi” supplied “Regupol” rubber surfacing.
• The St.-Petersburg-based company “Profima” supplied “Cetetherm” heating and cooling systems for the “Praskoveyevka” residence in a contract with Russia’s presidential administration.
• The Moscow-based firm “Saturn,” which specializes in installing special communications lines, mentioned in its disclosures that it worked on a project in Praskoveyevka called “Pensionate” (Retreat Center), which is what Putin’s palace is called, say multiple sources.

In his documentary film about Vladimir Putin’s alleged seaside palace, Alexey Navalny argues that roughly $1.5 billion in public and private money has subsidized the construction of a luxurious mansion and series of wineries for the Russian president on the Black Sea’s coast. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed the report as a fabrication, and Putin himself denies that his relatives own anything mentioned in Navalny’s investigation.