British media said that Putin secretly accumulated more than 40 billion US dollars in assets during his eight years in power.

　　The data map shows Russian President Vladimir Putin. China News Agency issued Liao Wenjing photo

　　New Express News The British "Guardian" quoted internal sources of Putin’s government as saying that the Russian Kremlin was fighting among billions of dollars of state-owned assets, and it was revealed for the first time that Putin had secretly accumulated more than 40 billion dollars (about 300 billion yuan) of assets during his eight years in power. It is said that he owns large shares in three Russian oil and gas companies, and whether Putin can keep his assets after leaving office has become the core issue.

　　Putin is the richest man in Europe.

　　In an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian on the 21st of last month, Russian political scholar Bierfus said that Putin holds the shares of three Russian energy giants through overseas opaque trust funds, including 37% of Surgutneftegaz, Russia’s third largest oil development company, with a value of 20 billion US dollars (about 150 billion yuan) and 4.5% of Gazprom)4.5% Putin’s personal net worth exceeds $40 billion, making him the richest man in Europe.

　　Cover up with an overseas company

　　According to the report, Putin owns as much as 75% of the Swiss-based Gunvor oil trading company founded by his friend timchenko. Gunvor’s operation is very mysterious. It has neither an official website nor an office in Moscow, but this year it announced an astronomical profit of 8 billion US dollars (about 60 billion yuan) and a turnover of 43 billion US dollars (about 330 billion yuan).

　　Berfsky said: "Putin has at least $40 billion, how much is unknown at most, and maybe there are other businesses I don’t know … Putin’s name will certainly not be made public on the shareholders’ register, and these offshore companies will not make public equity transactions."

　　Putin’s wealth has always been a taboo for Russians. This time, it was revealed that the current internal struggle in the Kremlin is an important incentive. It is reported that Medvedev and other "liberals" nominated by Putin as the next Russian presidential candidate are competing with a group of national security agencies headed by Xie Qin, deputy chief of staff of Kegong, for the control of billions of dollars of state-owned enterprises’ assets.

　　An out-and-out "businessman"

　　Bilfsky, who has written about Putin, believes that western countries have been deceived by Putin’s image as a "new Soviet" politician. He described Putin as a "typical" businessman, believing that money makes the mare go, and his ideas were deeply influenced when he worked in the mayor’s office of St. Petersburg, which was in the early 1990s when Russian crimes were rampant.

　　Bieshi said that money is the only way for Putin to achieve his goal. Panfilov, the leader of Transparency International in Russia, pointed out that the "random" corruption of the Russian government in 1990s had evolved into "systematic and institutionalized corruption" in Putin’s era.

　　The oil company responded

　　Putin is not a "beneficiary"

　　Gunvor Oil Trading Company issued a statement on 21st, denying the rumor that Russian President Vladimir Putin was the "beneficiary" of the company, which was the first response of the company on the relationship with Putin.

　　Tarnqvist, CEO of Gunnvor, sent a letter to The Guardian, in which he said that it was "extremely wrong" to say that the company benefited from its close relationship with the Kremlin. Putin is not the beneficiary of the company’s business activities, and neither he (Putin) nor his friends are shareholders of the company.

　　Tarnqvist also said that Gunnvor’s profits were exaggerated. He acknowledged the revenue figures reported by the media about the company, but refused to disclose its profits in 2007.

Editor: Wang Yuxi