$4.5 Billion Hidden Assets Allegation... Kremlin Palace Denies
The appearance of a luxurious mansion presumed to be the villa of Vladimir Putin, President of Russia. Photo by OCCRP, captured from Twitter.
[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Woo-seok] A mansion presumed to be a villa of Russian President Vladimir Putin has been revealed once again.
According to a report by the British daily The Guardian on the 23rd (local time), the investigative media alliance 'Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)' and the Russian independent media Meduza obtained thousands of emails sent by construction companies and others, exposing in detail two large Russian mansions presumed to be owned by President Putin.
One of the mansions began construction last year in the Karelia region of northern Russia. It has six rooms and uses many high-end materials such as lapis lazuli and raw labradorite.
It is also known to have an indoor swimming pool with a waterfall and bidets costing about $10,800 (approximately 14 million KRW) each.
The mansion is registered under a company called 'Prime,' which is owned by a nonprofit association linked to Yuri Kovalchuk, a banker close to President Putin.
OCCRP reported that these mansions are called 'Putin's mansions' among local residents.
However, there is no direct link reported between President Putin and the villas.
President Putin inspects the construction site of the Moscow Space Center. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The other mansion is a two-story modern building equipped with a large entertainment space, which was registered as a 'barn' at the Russian land registry office in 2018.
It is known to have a large banquet hall, brewing equipment worth hundreds of millions of won, and a swimming pool.
The Guardian reported that as of June 2015, the construction cost of this building, excluding interior costs and furniture, is estimated at 187 million rubles (approximately 4.46 billion KRW).
President Putin's official assets are modestly maintained, including a presidential salary of 110,000 euros (about 150 million KRW), an apartment in Saint Petersburg, and two Soviet-era cars, but some suspect that he is hiding assets of enormous scale.
The Guardian reported on the 20th that clues have emerged suggesting that President Putin holds assets worth $4.5 billion (about 5.82 trillion KRW) in real estate and cash.
According to the report, 86 companies and nonprofit charitable organizations that own and manage assets such as ski resorts, luxury villas, and yachts all use the email domain 'LLCInvest.ru,' and the telecommunications company holding this domain has close ties with Rossiya Bank, which is sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department.
One of the mansions among the assets is known to be worth 1 billion pounds (about 1.5873 trillion KRW).
Additionally, there are huge amounts of cash included, such as 17 billion rubles (about 403 billion KRW) in a deposit account under the name Agricultural Initiative Development, 20 billion rubles (about 474.2 billion KRW) in a long-term deposit account under the name Investment Market Development, and about 5 billion rubles (about 118.5 billion KRW) in short-term deposits, totaling around one trillion KRW.
However, the Kremlin has denied that the report has any connection to President Putin.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
