Putin builds himself a "royal village"
Russian President Vladimir Putin, like the Russian emperors in the past, has built a new "royal village" for himself and his family – a conglomerate of land holdings in Moscow Oblast around his official residence in Novo-Ogaryovo.
Source: an investigation by the independent Russian news agency Proekt
Details: The Russian president has been living and working in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence for the past few years and has even assigned it to himself until the end of his life. Literally everything has been arranged in this place – a swimming pool, a bathhouse, various baths and a gym, and a secret railway line was even set up to the residence in 2015.
The land around Novo-Ogaryovo was bought through foreign offshore companies and then given to Putin’s daughters, Mariya and Ekaterina. Nothing was signed to the girls' names for the sake of conspiracy. For example, the younger Ekaterina's territory was registered to her husband, Kirill Shamalov, after the wedding.
Her mother, Putin's ex-wife Lyudmila, and her new husband, Artur Ocheretniy, also moved in next door to her younger daughter. Nothing was registered on them either, as the same Shamalov was used as a legal owner.
The "tsarist village" territory is not limited to their plots, each worth at least RUB 1 billion [roughly US$12,3 million – ed.]. These are large properties, and the main thing to know about them is that no matter whom they are signed to, the land personally belongs to the Russian president.
The couple's property manager had to solve their personal problems, for example, negotiating with tutors - Tikhonova and Shalamov were fond of music. They went to vocal classes together, and Tikhonova also played the harp (1 photo top).
A list of the premises of the cottage, which Katerina sent to Cyril - a separate acrobatic hall, apparently needed for her dancing classes, and in the art workshop they were going to put a potter's wheel and a loom (2 photo top)
Shamalov was in a relationship with Putin's youngest daughter, Yekaterina Tikhonova, from 2012 to 2016. During this time, he owned two plots of land with luxurious mansions, which foreign offshore companies owned before him.
This land is vital because it is located so close to Putin's Novo-Ogaryovo residence (just 10 minutes away on foot). In addition, Shamalov bought a vast plot of land 15 minutes away from the main house in the village of Znamenskoye. The market value of all this property is at least RUB 6 billion [roughly US$74,2 million – ed.].
Shamalov and his wife most likely never lived in one of the two houses near Novo-Ogaryovo. They issued a power of attorney for the use of the property to the family of Lyudmila Putina, the president's ex-wife and Yekaterina's mother. One might assume that Kirill, like a good son-in-law, gifted the land to his favourite mother-in-law. However, this is not the case.
Kirill and Ekaterina's relationship began to deteriorate in 2016, and they soon divorced. The divorce process for this couple was simple – the ex-husband lost all his real estate in the "royal village" without exception. Putin's friend Arkady Rotenberg (or rather, Rotemberg’s people) registered a certain Coral JSC in St Petersburg, to which Shamalov transferred all three plots and both houses – near Novo-Ogaryovo and in Znamenskoye.
This is not to say that Shamalov was left without any money at all – he was paid RUB 2.3 billion [roughly US$28,4 million – ed.], much less than the market value of his assets.
On 30 May, the most important place for Putin was at risk of being attacked by Ukrainian drones. At least one of them was shot down just four kilometres from the president’s residence.
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