Putin secretly gave land near his residence to his daughters and ex-wife – Proekt

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Vladimir Putin established a “family estate” near his residence in Novo-Ogarevo, which was intended for both himself and his relatives. Proekt uncovered that the arrangement involved the use of dummy companies and foreign offshore entities.

Upon assuming power, Putin designated the Novo-Ogarevo estate near Moscow as his official residence. Subsequently, he opted to utilize it for the remainder of his life, in accordance with the law regarding guarantees for former presidents. As highlighted by Proekt,” Novo-Ogarevo is fully equipped with various amenities, including a swimming pool, a bathhouse, a gym; in 2015, a concealed railway line was connected to the residence.

According to Proekt's findings, the president's daughters started receiving properties in close proximity to the residence once they began cohabitating with their partners. It is worth noting that the marriages of Putin's daughters, as revealed by the Project, were not officially registered.

“Their dowry was secretly prepared well in advance: in mid-2006, foreign companies bought the land adjoining the compound and actually divided the property between the two girls,” Proekt reports.

To maintain secrecy, the ownership of the land worth approximately 350 million rubles, intended for Maria Vorontsova, was retained under offshore companies. Similarly, the land assigned to Katerina Tikhonova was officially registered in the name of her partner, Kirill Shamalov, while she herself had no formal association with it.

Thanks to the hacked correspondence of Kirill Shamalov, the Project has revealed detailed information about the renovations taking place in the couple's house. The Project describes it as follows:

“The couple made the decision to transform their four-story house, spanning over 1800 square meters and situated on a 60-acre plot, as they found its original design unappealing. According to Shamalov's emails, the estimated cost of the remodeling amounted to nearly €9 million. One particularly noteworthy item they ordered was a custom-made gilded chandelier for their dining room (or, as the young couple humorously referred to it in their correspondence, the 'drinking room'), which came with a price tag equivalent to that of a small apartment in the suburbs of Moscow - €72,000.”

The €72,000 chandelier

As part of their renovation plans, the young couple intended to include a dedicated acrobatic hall in their house, considering Katerina's involvement in acrobatic rock-n-roll. Additionally, they planned to install a potter's wheel and a weaving loom in their art studio.

Another property, a four-story cottage spanning 1,300 square meters, located in close proximity to Novo-Ogarevo, is owned by Lyudmila Putina, the ex-wife of Vladimir Putin. The real estate was also formally registered under the name of Kirill Shamalov.

Furthermore, there is an additional plot of land, just a 15-minute drive from Putin's residence, intended for his relatives. In 2015, Kirill Shamalov acquired 12 hectares of land in an esteemed location situated between Dmitry Medvedev's Gorki-9 residence and the property owned by Gennady Timchenko, a close friend of Putin. According to the correspondence, Shamalov and Tikhonova expressed their desire to construct a sprawling villa covering 4,500 square meters on this land.

These plans, however, were not destined to be realized as Kirill Shamalov and Katerina Tikhonova ended their relationship. Shortly after their separation, Shamalov relinquished almost all of his shares in Sibur, Russia's largest oil and gas company, a 20.8% stake in which, amounting to approximately $2 billion, he had obtained following the wedding. As reported by Proekt, a substantial portion of this stake was returned to acquaintances of Putin after the breakup with Tikhonova. Additionally, in 2019, Shamalov was stripped of all the land that had been registered under his name in Novo-Ogarevo.

Out of all the properties acquired by Kirill Shamalov during his relationship with Katerina, the only remaining asset is a villa located in France. Proekt suggests that this particular property was likely deemed unessential.