Kremlin: Putin Does Not Own a Palace and We Cannot Disclose the Names of the Castle Owners
A week after Navalny’s revelations and the release of a video of “Putin’s Palace,” the Kremlin spokesman said the structure belongs to several businessmen but he cannot disclose their names. Navalny has said the cost of building this palace was funded by massive bribes.
Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, described the palace claimed to belong to Putin as property of several Russian merchants and entrepreneurs, while simultaneously emphasizing that the government has no right to disclose the identity of the owners.
A video released by Alexei Navalny, a prominent critic of Putin, showing this luxurious palace and its surrounding territory, has been viewed more than 90 million times on YouTube. Navalny says this castle on the Black Sea coast is worth more than 100 million rubles (1.1 billion euros) and its area and surrounding properties are 40 times larger than the royal palace of Monaco. The released film was taken by drone from above the palace.
Navalny has stated that existing documents identify different people as the owners of the palace and its annexes; people who would not have the means to afford such enormous expenses. He says the costs of constructing and maintaining the palace were funded by bribes that oligarchs close to Putin received in state-owned companies.
Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, on Tuesday, January 26, denied Putin’s or his associates’ ownership of this structure but did not answer journalists’ questions about why this place is protected by officers of the secret FSB intelligence service and the FSO security and protective service, and why it has government guards and bodyguards.
Alexei Navalny has called the palace and its surrounding properties a “country within a country” and described it as evidence of the greatest scandal and financial corruption in Russian history.
The revelation of the existence of this palace, along with Navalny’s arrest, has been the most important factor in causing public protests in Russia in recent days. Navalny returned to Moscow last week after several months of treatment in Germany but was immediately arrested. From the day after his arrest, anti-government demonstrations took place in 100 Russian cities with the slogan “Free Navalny,” resulting in the detention of at least 3,700 people.
Source: DW
