Is Putin a billionaire?

How rich is Vladimir Putin? It is an easy question to answer formally by looking at Mr Putin's declaration of assets as a candidate in this month's parliamentary elections (writes Tony Halpin, Moscow Correspondent of The Times).

This showed that he earned £40,000 last year and had £74,000 in savings as well as two vintage Volga cars, an apartment in St Petersburg inherited from his parents and 230 shares in a local bank, worth about £400.
Informally, however, some staggering numbers are circulating as gossip among political analysts in Russia.

Stanislav Belkovsky, head of the Institute of National Strategy, a Moscow think-tank, claims that Mr Putin has at least $41 billion tucked away in shares and offshore trusts based in Switzerland and Lichtenstein.

That would make Mr Putin not only Russia's, but Europe's richest man, far eclipsing the wealth of oligarchs such as Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, and Boris Berezovsky, one of the President's strongest critics.

Mr Belkovsky is a former Kremlin insider and one-time supporter of Mr Putin who has now turned strongly against the President. In an interview with Germany's Die Welt newspaper last month he named companies in which he alleges the Russian President holds a secret stake.

He claims Mr Putin holds 37 per cent of Surgutneftegaz, Russia's fourth largest oil company, 4.5 per cent in the state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom, and 50 per cent of a mysterious oil trading company Gunvor. He raised the stake in Gunvor to 75 per cent in an interview with The Guardian today.

Gunvor’s headquarters are in Switzerland and run by Gennady Timchenko, a former judo partner and KGB colleague of Mr Putin. It is estimated to have made $8 billion profit last year on a turnover of $40 billion by handling up to a quarter of Russia's oil exports.

It must be said that Mr Belkovsky, who initiated the Kremlin's war on the Yukos oil company owned by Mikhail Khordorkovsky, then Russia's richest man, produces no evidence to support his allegations.

However, a former presidential candidate and state Duma deputy, Ivan Rybkin, also claimed in Nezavisimaya Gazeta in 2004 that Mr Putin was Russia's biggest oligarch and that Mr Timchenko was one of three businessmen responsible for managing his affairs.

Anders Aslund, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, repeated Mr Belkovsky's claims in the Moscow Times last month and concluded: "If these numbers contain any truth, Putin would be the most corrupt political leader in world history, easily surpassing Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and Zaire's Mobutu."

In another article in the Washington Post last week, Mr Aslund raised further questions about the extent of Mr Putin's wealth and the private fortunes amassed by public officials linked to the Kremlin.

The Kremlin has not reacted to any of the accusations. Mr Putin himself slapped down claims of corruption in his inner circle during an interview he gave to Time magazine for naming him its Person of the Year on Wednesday .

Questioned whether "some of the people closest to you are getting rich", Mr Putin replied: "Then you know who and how. Write to us, to the foreign ministry, if you are so confident. I presume you know the names, you know the systems and the tools. "I can assure you and everyone who would listen to us, watch us and read us, that the reaction would be swift, immediate, [and] within the prevailing law."

The question mark over Mr Putin's wealth is matched by another over why this is suddenly emerging into the public glare. His decision to back Dmitri Medvedev as his presidential successor has not gone down well with the "siloviki", the security service and military wing in the Kremlin whose favoured candidate was the hardline former Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov.

A struggle between rival clans in the siloviki is already under way as they battle to mark out their territory ahead of the transfer of power in the presidential election next March. Some analysts regard Mr Putin's decision to stay on as prime minister as a sign of his concern that the siloviki may seek to undermine Mr Medvedev, a lawyer with no background in either the secret services or the military.

Winston Churchill once compared Kremlin politics to watching "dogs fighting under a carpet" because it was only clear who had won once the growling had died away. It may be that details about Mr Putin's alleged fortune are being leaked out to discredit him in the power struggle over the succession. Whether more emerges or the whole issue gets swept back under the carpet depends on Mr Putin's ability to control the in-fighting raging in the Kremlin.

Comments

[GorYU]

Делать Вам нечего считать чужие деньги, у нас демократия.
Абсурд считать деньги Президента или премьер министра, им деньги не нужны у них есть целая страна, Россия.
По любому нет другой страны сейчас в мире, куда бы я хотел уехать, если посмотреть проблемы есть везде.

Фотка, в Жуковском на МАКСе сделана, из-за неё обратил внимание на этот текст =)

google translator:
Do you have nothing to take other people's money, our democracy.
Absurd to believe the money the President or Prime Minister, they do not need the money they have the whole country, Russia.
For any other country there is no way in the world, where would I want to leave, to see if there are problems everywhere.

[Artyom, from Russia-=)]

"how easy it is to become rich."

Its not easy in Russia to become rich. Yes it was so, but no there's another situation. So you're wrong in this opinion.

So my opinion, that Putin has another sourses of getting money. And every one has this sourses, because it's an requirement.

[frank sheridan]

I have been living in the czech republic for some time,these people have genuine fear of Putin and with Russia sending her yuletide greetings with a threat to America over the anti missile deployment it would appear to be in good cause.

[Anna, Moscow]

It is difficult to give credence to rumours from the oppposition. But people in power tend to have something up the sleeve, it's an open secrect, holding shares through third persons. But irrespective of Putin's personal finances the only thing is clear - Russia's future is blurred. Even not blurred - absolutely transperent. We are experiencing a total collapse in the past - with no factual democracy, one ruling party and political leader, imagined growth of economy and new ideology, imposing worship of our saviour.

[Yurchenko Serge]

to Richard Madge: Why Vladimir Putin must be "friend of West"? He is President of Russia, not "of any Western state" and must defend russians interest and (may be) interest of our ally.

[iain morse]

Why give any credence to the unsupported rubbish written by Belkovsky? Can't you write about Russian house prices or the booming private business sector? This says so much about the poor quality of UK journalism on Russia -fed by people around Boris Beresovsky, uncritical in accepting the most lurid and ludicrous rumours and inventions. Putin -successful at asserting Russian interests and holding the country together- is portrayed as a murdererous war monger with a plan to re-hang the iron curtain and steal his country's wealth. On this version he is responsible for a huge battery of crimes. Perhaps the truth is that he has done a far better job for Russia than anyone expected. The country is stable, the economy growing and this is good news-very good news-for the 'ordinary Russians' who love him so much. Worse still he has asserted Russian interests in foreign policy. Do we expect Gordon Brown to do any different? Fom a Russian perspective the war in Iraq was stupid-the war in Afghanistan unwinnable. It looks like they are right.

[Istvan Berkes]

In my opinion, the East-Europe peoples like Putin. The live generations beleve: Putin is a democratic, and cosmopolitan country-leader. He can speak whit Europe, USA, ...etc.
In Russia, the people like him - ok, te russan chess-master not :-)) -, and this is inportant. He has hard hand, but is need on there.

I dont care Putin reach or not. He work hardly. Of course he is not poor, because he is the first person there. May be, Putin don't like money, but the money must be need Putin, because he built him country' buiessness.

Sorry, readers, but my english not perfect, yet, and my translet-softwer not working now.

bie bie

Istvan from the moon

[Richard Madge]

Time Magazine has named Vladimir Putin 'Person of the Year'. If nothing else, I think it has become clear in 2007 just how cold, ruthless and dangerous this man is. He is no friend of the West. 'Gangster of the Year' would be more apt

[David]

Putin was 'shoe horned' into the job by Yeltsin probable the most corrupt and incompetant leader imaginable. Putin would not have got the job if he would not go along with the 'system' of state theft. Now he has all his men in place he has obviously seen how easy it is to become rich.