A Russian banker has reportedly tried to argue that President Vladimir Putin does not have vast secret wealth because he is "very much dedicated to his job."
During an interview in Moscow with CNBC television, part of the U.S. NBC network, Russian banker Andrey Kostin cast doubt on a $2 billion money trail leading to Putin, as revealed in financial documents known as the Panama Papers.
Kostin, the chief executive of Russia's state-owned VTB bank, said, "I don't believe that Mr. Putin has $2 billion, because even if he wanted to have, I don't know how he is going to spend them,” Kostin said in a portion of the interview published online. The banker said he does not think that “earning private wealth" is one of Putin's personal priorities, and that no one has ever seen evidence of such wealth possessed by the Russian president.
By assets, VTB Bank is Russia's second-biggest, after Sberbank, which also is state-owned. The government has a 60.9 percent stake in VTB, but Kostin denied the Kremlin has influenced his bank's operations.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) reported in April that suspicious payments made by “Putin's cronies may have, in some cases, been intended as payoffs, possibly in exchange for Russian government aid or contracts.” The secret documents suggested that much of the money originally came from a bank in Cyprus, the ICIJ said, “that, at the time, was majority owned by the Russian state-controlled VTB Bank.”
The documents also showed dozens of transactions, over more than a decade, involving people or companies linked to Putin, who has been in power at the Kremlin since 2000. Among those identified in the document were Putin's long-time friend, cellist Sergei Roldugin, and the wife of Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov. Putin has admitted there were transactions between him and Roldugin, but said there was no evidence of illegal activity. Roldugin has dismissed any suggestion that he was either a custodian or a conduit for Putin's money or assets.
San Francisco mayor lauds Optics Valley
PLO chief was 'not poisoned'
Confucius' lessons still relevant, Xi says
Tragedy leads to calls for school safety
US Ambassador Locke to leave post next year
Hopes high on income reform
Terror at sea as Thai tourist ferry sinks
Normalizing trade may bear fruit for US apples
Hospital denies reports linking cancer case to pollution
Xi thanks Clinton for furthering ties
Experts say more seismic activity could still come
Kerry will visit Israel to discuss Iran nuclear issue
Museums look to innovation for future
Laojiao facilities in limbo as detention system to end
Democrats win NYC and Virginia
Rupert Murdoch OKs 'amicable' divorce
Parents say golfing teaches good life lessons
Survey shows holiday preference
He follows his heart with his feet
17 accused of making and selling fake drugs
Macao packs a big punch
Charles ready for pension, still waiting for job
Nation ‘a strong Games candidate’
Smog disrupts daily life in Nanjing
Diabetes has its day on stage
Yili looks to Italy for better milk
China allows rouble in border city
Shenzhen facility for abandoned babies has skeptics
Leadership charts path
Erupting volcano forces villagers to flee in Indonesia
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |