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Russia

Is Vladimir Putin Richer Than Carlos Slim?

AL JAZEERA (Qatar), RADIO SVOBODANOVAYA GAZETA (Russia), SUNDAY TIMES (UK)

MOSCOW - Vladimir Putin, comfortably back in the Russian presidency, presents himself as a humble, down-to-earth man of average means.

But rumors about his wealth, and the secrecy surrounding it, have been circulating for years, as far back as his time as deputy mayor of St. Petersburg in the early 1990s, when he signed a deal to export raw materials in exchange for food for the nearly starving city - food that never materialized, as this Radio Svoboda article alleges.

Last November, the Sunday Times published an investigation that put the combined net worth of Putin and his close friends at $130 billion - more than twice as much as the wealth of Mexico's Carlos Slim, the richest man on earth according to Forbes.

This video from Al Jazeera looks at all the rumors and accusations together, using much of the same information as a blog post from Novaya Gazeta, to build a story around hints of extreme wealth behind Russia’s most powerful man.

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Economy

Wealthy Russians Are Back To Buying Real Estate In Europe — Sanctions Be Damned

After the start of the war in Ukraine, Russian oligarchs and other rich individuals turned to the real estate markets in Dubai and Turkey. Now Russian buyers are back in Europe. Three EU countries in particular are attracting buyers for their controversial "golden visa" program.

Photo of a sunset on villas on a hillside in Benahavis, Spain

Villas in Benahavis, Spain, a country that has enticed Russians with a so-called "golden visa" program.

Eduard Steiner

BERLINWestern sanctions imposed after the start of Russia's war against Ukraine have made financial outflows from Russia much more difficult — and paradoxically have also helped to strengthen Russia's economy, as the renowned economist Ruben Enikolopov recently noted in an interview for the online media "The Bell".

So while sanctions have not completely prevented these financial flows, they played a role in changing their direction.

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It was notable in real estate purchases during the first year of the war: as Russian buyers moved away from the previously coveted European market to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as to Turkey or the South Caucasus and even Southeast Asia.

Instead of "Londongrad", where the high- to middle-income earners from Vladimir Putin's empire turned for the previous two decades, people suddenly started talking about "Dubaigrad."

But this trend now seems to have peaked, with unexpected signs that Russians are back on the European real estate market.

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