Monday, February 20, 2017

Daily Mail On Putin: "After 17 years in power, Russian leader has a '$200 billion fortune, 58 planes and helicopters and 20 palaces and country retreats'"

For those keeping track at home, RuLeaks, who revealed interior photos of the Putin Palace on the Black Sea (Zillow Zestimate® $1 billion) earlier this decade has disappeared from the face of the earth.

From the Daily Mail:
Russian President Vladimir Putin might be the richest man in the world, according to experts who believe he could have a net worth of $200billion.

The official richest man in the world, according to Forbes, is Microsoft's Bill Gates with a net worth of $75billion.

During his nearly two decades in power, Putin's net worth has been widely speculated, with the former KGB agent likely having private assets in real estate and company holdings.

One of the most quoted guesses of the 64-year-old's net worth is political analyst Stanslav Belkovsky's 2007 estimation of $40billion, but Bill Browder, author and a former fund manager in Russia, has said the president has a higher worth - upwards of $200billion.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/20/16/3D744A5500000578-0-image-a-144_1487607384925.jpg
IBTimes raised the question of Putin's wealth last week, pointing out that Browder spoke to Fareed Zakaria GPS in 2015, claiming that Putin's years in power have led him to gain quite a fortune.

'I believe that it's $200 billion,' he said at the time. 'After 14 years in power of Russia, and the amount of money that the country has made, and the amount of money that hasn't been spent on schools and roads and hospitals and so on, all that money is in property, bank - Swiss bank accounts - shares, hedge funds, managed for Putin and his cronies.'

And yet, Putin has been snubbed from the official Forbes list of the world's richest men and women over the years....MUCH MORE
Previously:
2010
I have always thought of the Prime Minister as Hydrocarbon Man.
Back in 2007 the Guardian published "Putin, the Kremlin power struggle and the $40bn fortune" which stated:
...In an interview with the Guardian, Belkovsky repeated his claims that Putin owns vast holdings in three Russian oil and gas companies, concealed behind a "non-transparent network of offshore trusts".

Putin "effectively" controls 37% of the shares of Surgutneftegaz, an oil exploration company and Russia's third biggest oil producer, worth $20bn, he says. He also owns 4.5% of Gazprom, and "at least 75%" of Gunvor, a mysterious Swiss-based oil trader, founded by Gennady Timchenko, a friend of the president's, Belkovsky alleges....
This led to a letter to the editor the next day, from Gunvor's CEO. "Putin owns no part of Gunvor". which categorically denied that Vlad had any interest in the trader....MORE
2011

We hot-linked to the pictures rather than downloading to our 'puters so when the site disappeared the pics on our site died as well, they're still out there on the web if you want to poke around, we don't. 
Here's an exterior shot:

http://xoxol.org/putin/putins-palace-on-black-sea-1200x780.jpg