Russian President Vladimir Putin is famous all over the world for his high lifestyle. He is the owner of immense wealth. He has taken care that his forehead is clearly visible. However, the immense wealth of his friends and relatives tells how rich he will be to the one who has earned this wealth in return. Let’s try to know about the wealth of Putin and his friends-relatives.
Putin has tried to keep himself clean in public. In 2020, he had declared his income less than Rs 1 crore. After the fall in the value of the ruble against the dollar, this wealth has come down to about $ 93,000. But, don’t go for this wealth. The real story is something else.
It is well known that on the eastern bank of the Black Sea there is a luxurious palace of Putin. Its value is said to be more than 1 billion dollars. For a long time this palace was being speculated to be of Putin. But, last year, the matter became clear after Leader of the Opposition Alexei Navelny released a documentary.
In the documentary, it is shown that complex cross-holding was used to hide the Russian President’s ownership of the palace. When pressure on Putin started increasing in this matter, his former judo partner and billionaire Arkady Rotenberg had to come forward. He tried to end the matter by claiming this palace as his own.
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Putin is 69 years old. That’s why his friends and their children are becoming increasingly influential in the Russian government and Russian companies. Boris Kovalchak, son of Putin’s close aide Yuri Kovalchak, is the largest shareholder of Bank Rossia. Gleb Frank, son of former transport minister Sergei Frank, has grown in strength in recent times. The wealth of Igor Rotenberg and Sergei Ivanov grew rapidly. Both of their fathers are considered Putin’s accomplices. Navalny says that the new feudal system is tightening its grip on the whole of Russia.
Anti-corruption campaign Transparency International has uncovered $2 billion investment by Russian billionaires in London’s property market. In 2018, the Foreign Affairs Committee of England said in its report that Russian money was used in 20 percent of properties bought in England. It also said that it may be only a small part of the real investment of Russian billionaires.
Roman Abramovich, Putin’s friend and often seen at his birthday party, is the owner of Chelsea Football Club. Evgeny Lebedev, the son of a friend of Putin’s in the KGB, owns the Evening Standard newspaper. There are dozens of people whose wealth and prestige have increased tremendously in the last 10-20 years. They stand firmly with Putin today.
Russian President Joe Biden spoke of targeting Putin’s rich friends in a State of the Union speech. He said that we, together with our fellow friends in Europe, will confiscate the illegitimate wealth of the Russian rich. He had said that its Department of Justice is forming a special task force. He had said that yachts, luxury apartments and private jets bought from illegitimate wealth would be taken into custody.
Bidne knows that sanctions on Russian companies, the banking system and sports will ultimately reduce Putin’s power. On the other hand, France took possession of the luxury yacht of Igor Sechins, a friend of Putin and the head of Rosneft, one of the big Russian companies. Germany has seized a yacht worth $ 600 million, which is said to be of Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.
Yachts, expensive apartments and jets are the hallmarks of modern Russia’s billionaires. In the last 20 years, a new army of such billionaires has arisen. They are said to have the patronage of Putin. These are people ready to live and die for Putin.
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