THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Vladimir Putin has had a lavish £600 million Italianate palace built for himself near a Black Sea resort with the proceeds of "corruption, bribery and theft", a Russian businessman has alleged.The claim, made in a letter to Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's president, was boosted on Monday after the Novaya Gazeta newspaper obtained what it said was an authenticated copy of the original contract for the palace signed in 2005 by Vladimir Kozhin, the Russian presidential property manager. Mr Putin, now prime minister, was president at the time.
Set in 74 hectares of prime land near the Black Sea coast with its own vineyard, the palace is reported to be almost eight million square feet and has its own helipad. Other features include an indoor cinema, a summer amphitheatre, a casino, swimming pools, a gym and a clock tower. Sergei Kolesnikov, the businessman who claims the palace is Mr Putin's, has likened the structure to a palace built for Russia's Tsars outside St Petersburg. He said that the Russian prime minister had personally approved the design and materials. >>> Andrew Osborn, Moscow | Monday, February 14, 2011
NOVAYA GAZETA: St. Petersburg businessman Sergei Kolesnikov, who wrote to President Medvedev on New Year’s Eve that a sumptuous palace was being built on the Black Sea coast for Prime Minister Putin’s “personal use”, did not choose a very auspicious time for publishing this sensation. Although Mr Kolesnikov, having worked for years in the pool of businessmen close to the Prime Minister, was unquestionably well informed, his letter did not produce the desired effect because of the preparations for the New Year celebrations.After the New Year, Kolesnikov gave a long interview to Novaya Gazeta, and then ruleaks.net, a Russian analogue to WikiLeaks, carried photographs of the palace. That broke the silence and prompted some officials to react. The first was the Chief of the President’s Administrative Affairs Directorate, Vladimir Kozhin, for which we must be very grateful to him: following his public remarks, we have full grounds for not believing another word he says. >>> Roman Anin | Monday, February 14, 2011
The Russians got rid of the real Czar and Czarina last century only to replace them with a pretender to the throne this century: Czar Vlad! – Mark
