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Putin’s friend explains funds listed in the Panama Papers


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Putin’s friend explains funds listed in the Panama Papers
By Catherine Hardy | With RTR

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MOSCOW: -- A friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, implicated in the Panama Papers outcry, has claimed in an interview that he invests all his money in music and young Russian cultural talent.

Cellist Sergei Roldugin says he wants to advance cultural projects in Russia.

It comes after his name appeared on the “Panama Papers” leak last week.

Roldugin says he is an honest man. “People around the world try not to declare what they have bought and imported. They do it for security reasons. I should not have declared things either. Doing so has cost me a lot of money.”

What are the Panama Papers?
11.5 million confidential records from a law firm in Panama
Details of secretive financial accounts in low-tax havens used to conceal wealth
Rich, famous and world leaders implicated
Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson resigned after his name appeared on the list

What has the Russian President said?
On Thursday, Vladimir Putin denied having any links to offshore accounts.

His name does not feature in any of the leaked documents.

The documents reportedly allege that Putin’s associates have used a wide variety of offshore structures to move vast sums of money around the world.

Putin described the Panama Papers scandal as part of a US-led plot to weaken Russia.

Putin also defended Roldugin, saying his lifelong friend has done “nothing wrong”.



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-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-04-12
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I didn't know what was going on!

Somebody gave me a billion dollars and told me to hide it!

I think it was Putin, but I don't know. He had a hairy chest and was riding a horse. I've got minuettes on my mind. I'm easily distracted.

The money was for a good cause. What cause? I don't know, maybe buying beach chairs and umbrellas for people with sensitive skin.

Leave me alone. I haven't done anything wrong. Where's my vodka? The streets are icy, I need to go for a drive.

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Interesting details. Love his comment. Delicate is putting it...well...delicately. LOL

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/panama-papers-who-sergei-roldugin-vladimir-putins-cellist-best-friend-centre-money-network-1553028

But leaked documents from Mossack Fonseca reveal how Rodulgin apparently controlled, directly or indirectly, a group of companies that would either make transactions with large state-owned Russian companies, take donations from Russian businessmen or make loans from the Cyprus-based RCB Bank, which has a large stake controlled by the Russian state-owned VTB Bank.

The Panama Papers show that in April 2014, Roldugin was making £6.5m a year, and had £19m in cash from a stake in Video International, an advertising agency. An investment in the truck manufacturer could also have been worth £100m (£70m).

In response to questions from reporters at the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, he said about the Panama Papers' revelations: "I can't comment at this time. I have to take a look and find out what I can say and what I can't... this is all delicate".

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This is funny:

http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/sergei-roldugin-the-cellist-who-holds-the-key-to-tracing-putins-hidden-fortune

Kovalchuk remains the linchpin of a bank that now has assets of almost $11bn. A White House official described him as “essentially the personal banker for many senior officials in the Russian Federation, including Putin”. In Moscow, Bank Rossiya is known as “Putin’s wallet”.
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This is funny:

http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/sergei-roldugin-the-cellist-who-holds-the-key-to-tracing-putins-hidden-fortune

Kovalchuk remains the linchpin of a bank that now has assets of almost $11bn. A White House official described him as “essentially the personal banker for many senior officials in the Russian Federation, including Putin”. In Moscow, Bank Rossiya is known as “Putin’s wallet”.

Great article for finding out more details. Thanks!

I don't have time to read it all now, but I did notice something very interesting in that linked Guardian article about a certain Mikhail Lesin:

"Putin’s media tsar. He fell out of favour and was found dead last November in a Washington hotel room with ‘blunt trauma injuries’ to the head."

Putin did release a statement that does not make the most touching eulogy:

"The president appreciates the enormous contribution made by Mikhail Lesin to the formation of modern Russian media."

Geez, I guess you need to think very carefully first before joining the Putin team. I bet Roldugin will be playing his cards very carefully. Like Craig noted, it's a "delicate" situation.

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Lots of money to be made in "has claimed in an interview that he invests all his money in music and young Russian cultural talent."

Why invest in real estate, securities, stocks etc. when you can amass a fortune in music and young Russian cultural talent?

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