According to these means, a few years ago Putin acquired the “Opera Palace” in Munich, worth 300 million euros, as well as the building of the Sofitel Hotel, also located in the Bavarian capital.
A 2021 investigation dubbed “Pandora’s Papers” revealed that the Munich mansion was linked to a “ghost” company based in the Virgin Islands.
According to a joint investigation by several German media, the company will be associated with Russian businessman Ruslan Yevgenievich Goryugin, who is in turn related to the millionaire Arkady Rotenberg, who belongs to Putin’s closest circle of friends.
The news published by Bild today is that the Russian president is also the owner of 33 properties on Kurfürstendamm and a luxury villa of 1,850 square meters in Berlin.
Once again, the property appears as belonging to Arkady Rotenberg and his brother Boris, both of whom are under sanctions by the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom, due to the association between their companies and the invasion of Ukraine.
This month, German authorities confiscated a number of yachts belonging to Russian oligarchs listed at a shipyard in Hamburg.
However, there are still no records of the confiscation of any property, since, in practice, due to the difficulties in determining the true owner of these luxury goods, most of the times are registered with companies located in tax havens.
William Shakespeare is a journalist and feature writer specialising in culture, entertainment, history, and current affairs. With a keen eye for storytelling and analysis, he produces informative articles that help readers understand the people, ideas, and events influencing modern life.
