Several sources are claiming that Vladimir Putin in worth 70 billion dollars.
Business Insider:
“The analyst, Stanislav Belkovsky, says the Russian president could be worth up to $70 billion.”
From the website TheRichest:
“Current President of Russia Vladimir Putin has an estimated net worth of $70 billion. He has been serving the post since May 7, 2012. Since 2008, he has been serving as the Chairman of political party, United Russia.
“Under his administration as the country’s president, Putin passed into law new legal and land codes, reduced tax profits, and implemented a flat 13% income tax. He is also known to support the defence and nuclear industries.”
According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism:
“Stanislav Belkovsky, a political analyst and critic of Putin, is one of the most outspoken. He claims Putin could be worth as much as $70 billion, a figure that would make him the richest man in the world.
“This extraordinary sum is based on claims that Putin owns shares in three major oil and gas companies: 4.5% of national gas giant Gazprom, 37% of oil supplier Surgutneftegas and a major shareholder of a company that cannot be named for legal reasons. That company strenuously denies any links to Putin.
“The figure of $40bn emerged in 2007. That figure could now have changed, I believe at the level of $60-70bn,’ Belkovsky says.
“His estimate is based on information gained from confidential sources around the corporations, Belkovsky claims. But he is reluctant to reveal more.
“All three companies have opaque ownership structures, and it is impossible to identify the shareholdings claimed by Belkovsky.
“Gas and oil producer Surgutneftegas is secretive – an attitude that has not always played in its favour. In 2009 the company bought a 21.2% stake in Hungarian company MOL. However, when Surgutneftegas came to register as a voting shareholder, it was refused. MOL said the company’s lack of transparency around its ownership structure did not comply with Hungarian law.
“Gazprom is the biggest gas extractor in the world; the Russian government controls it with a 50.002% stake. But while Gazprom is more transparent over share ownership, Belkovsky claims Putin’s share is hidden through ‘a non-transparent scheme of successive ownership of off-shore companies and funds.”
According to Celebrity NetWorth:
“Last April, Putin revealed both his salary and estimated net worth. Unfortunately something just didn’t add up. Putin’s disclosure portrayed the controversial leader as a humble man of the people with very meager, practically non-existent, income and assets. This portrayal did not sit well with many experts of Russian government and politics. These experts agree that, without question, Putin has used his last decade of absolute power and wholehearted corruption to stash away a vast personal fortune estimated at more than $70 billion.”
“After Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned on December 31st, 1999, Putin became the acting President of the Russian Federation and thereby launched a nearly 15 year reign of absolute power and control. During his reign, many Russian insiders and experts believe that Putin has used his power to do a little more than improve life for the common Russian citizen. While many previously state-owned industries were privatized, Putin allegedly has used his power to build large secret ownership stakes several multi-billion dollar commodity firms. His most vocal critics assert that Putin has leveraged his power to acquire a 4.5% ownership stake in natural gas producer Gazprom, a 37% stake in oil company Surgutneftegas and 50% stake in Swiss oil-trader Gunvor. Gazprom alone does over $150 billion in revenue annually, Guvnor does $80 billion and Surgutneftegas over $20 billion. Using their most recent market capitalizations, Putin’s combined ownership stakes would give him a personal net worth of $70 billion!”
A LiveLeak report was based on the Celebrity NetWorth information:
“If Vladimir Putin’s net worth truly sits at $70 billion, that would be enough to make him the third richest person on the planet right behind Bill Gates and Carlos Slim Helu. It would likely also represent one of the largest personal fortunes ever accumulated by a sitting President. The only other world leader who possibly looted more cash from his country was Muammar Gaddafi, who after 40 years of power stashed away a reported $200 billion in ill-gotten oil money.”
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/04/19/putin-the-richest-man-on-earth/
http://www.businessinsider.com/is-vladmir-putin-secretly-the-richest-person-in-the-world-2012-4
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2da_1407764424
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/celebrity/how-vladimir-putin-stashed-away-a-secret-70-billion-personal-fortune/
http://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/politician/president/vladimir-putin-net-worth/
OK, Fine. 