The Putin riviera

‘Open Media’ publishes guide to the area surrounding the Russian president’s ‘palace’ on the Black Sea

“Navalny’s film said nothing about the fact that around ‘Putin’s palace’ no less luxurious and guarded estates have already sprung up like mushrooms,” writes the news outlet Open Media in its newly published investigation into the area surrounding the luxury residence on the Black Sea supposedly built for the Russian President. According to this “travel guide,” these ritzy properties belong to people from the president’s inner circle. Meduza sums up Open Media’s guide to “the Putin riviera,” in brief.

Billionaire and long-time Putin associate Arkady Rotenberg has come forward as the official owner of the Russian president’s “palace.” In the near future, another large construction venture will begin near the residence — 119 hectares (about 294 acres) has been allocated for a hunting lodge. The “Divnomorskoye” estate is located nearby — a 323-hectare (798-acre) property that includes a spa complex, a winery, and a “tasting house.” A private water park is set to be built there soon. All of this belongs to Putin-linked billionaire Gennady Timchenko and businessman Vladimir Kolbin (the son of Putin’s childhood friend Petr Kolbin). Farther away is the residence of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill. Built as a spiritual and cultural center, the property includes an indoor swimming pool, 70 hectares (about 173 acres) of vineyards, and a winery — costing approximately 22 billion rubles ($298 million) in total. Through the forest connecting to “Putin’s palace” there are two campsites belonging to billionaire Oleg Deripaska valued at 7 billion rubles (nearly $95 million), along with tens of thousands of hectares of rented hunting grounds, the cost of which experts wouldn’t even attempt to estimate. The neighbor closest to “Putin’s palace” is the “Parus” facility belonging to businessman Sergey Shishkarev. This plot of land itself costs about 1.2 billion rubles ( $16.2 million) — that’s without adding the value of the buildings on the property, since nothing is known about them. The nearby resort town of Gelendzhik is home to the residence of “Putin’s personal banker” Yuri Kovalchuk — a 70 hectare property valued at 11 billion rubles (more than $148 million). The property’s main building is 6,752 square meters (72,678 feet), and includes a rooftop pool and panoramic glass walls.

You can read Open Media’s complete “travel guide” in Russian here.

Cover photo: riltor / Shutterstock.com