Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Together, we have gotten a lot of work done.
We will continue to intensify our fight against crime, corruption...
The United Democratic Movement SOLIDARITY presents
the film
PUTIN. CORRUPTION. Part VII
The Kleptocrat's Wristwatch
Russia's highest "elites", including the civil servants never previously employed in the business sector,
have a liking for exorbitantly priced chronometers.
Among them, the leader in the sheer number of expensive watches is Putin.
In 2009, he had twice bestowed upon ordinary Russian citizens a watch from his own wrist:
the lucky guys were a son of a shepherd from Tuva and a locksmith from Tula.
Both times it was a Blancpain Aqualung, priced $10 500 each.
In 2010, he threw into the liquid concrete at the construction site of the Nizhne-Bureisk hydroelectric power plant another copy of the same wristwatch.
Thus, within a short span of time, the (former) prime minister had disposed of wristwatches worth a total of over 1 million rubles (over $30 000)
It doesn't end there: now Putin wears a fourth Blancpain Aqualung.
Putin has also been noticed with more expensive models of wristwatches.
For example, Patek Philippe, made of white gold, worth $60 000.
But the real sensation is that the head of only a moderately wealthy country
is the owner of a wristwatch costing $500 000!
Crocodile leather watchband, sapphire glass screen, and a platinum watch case
will lighten up the dull routine of any 'galley slave' ('galley slave' - an expression once used by Putin to refer to himself).
Compare: the USA president's watch costs $200,
that is, 2500 times cheaper than the Russian president's.
The price of the president of France Francois Hollande's watch is even lower: $150.
Aside from that, Putin has around 10 more expensive chronometers. Among them:
As well as
Altogether, the collection would sum up to over 22 million rubles (over $650 000)
Officially, Putin's yearly income is around $112 600,
which is a sixth of his wristwatch collection's worth.
[Boris Nemtsov]: Mr. Putin was strongly against the ratification of article 20 of the UN Convention Against Corruption,
which mentioned that all the assets acquired by government officials with the money outside of their incomes is to be confiscated.
So when the State Duma, controlled by Putin, ratified this convention, Article 20 was removed.
A colossal corruption is impetuously pushing Russia into the Third World. [Figure title: Russia in the World's Corruption Rating. Source: Transparency International]
We need to, in a most careful manner,
draw.. that is.. our eyes to the necessity of continuing our fight against corruption...
You can find an unofficial English translation of the independent white paper 'Putin. Corruption.' on the website http://www.putin-itogi.ru/putin-i-korruptsiya/
The United Democratic Movement SOLIDARITY
Producer: Boris Nemtsov
Film by Leonid S. Martynyuk, 2012 English translation by Kostya T.