Party pad: A report has linked the Russian president to the alarmingly large holiday house on the Black Sea. Photo / Navalny.com
Party pad: A report has linked the Russian president to the alarmingly large holiday house on the Black Sea. Photo / Navalny.com
Italian designer furniture modelled on Versailles, a 25-metre indoor swimming pool and private casino. The interior of the secret Black Sea palace is predictably OTT.
However it is the electronic Dance Party mats and slot machines which are among the more surprising items in Putin's party pad, he didn't want the world to see.
There has been much speculation over the years as to who owns the palatial holiday house at Gelendzhik Bay. On Tuesday a video was released by the website of Russian activist Alexei Navalny showing an embarrassingly detailed tour of the grounds overlooking the Black Sea and what is claimed to be irrefutable evidence linking the Russian president to the $2 billion holiday house.
The house always wins: Photos of the president's private casino. Photo / Navalny.com
The video report by Navalny was released the day following his arrest at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. It already has 30 million views.
"Hi, this is Navalny. I'm back," reads the investigation entitled "A Palace For Putin".
The investigation which details the luxurious building and grounds is more focused on accounting and claims of corruption rather than Selling-Sunset style property TV, but it does contain some tantalising details.
Home theatre: a stage within the palace. Photo / Navalny.com
Among the more surprising things revealed by the investigation into the 16,691-square-metre palace are a Russian Orthodox chapel, an ice hockey rink and a dancing salon.
"There are no war maps, globes and huge screens. This is a room in which a huge track for electric cars is built, and behind it is a display rack for the collection," it says.
Construction has begun on a private ice rink for the ice hockey-loving president. Photo / Navalny.com
In the report on the Navalny campaign website are photos claiming to be the first seen by the public of the palace interior.
It is not only the Russian president for whom the report is causing embarrassment. Items by Italian luxury furniture company Pozzoli have appeared in photos and plans released by the investigation. If the association with the secret project isn't enough to make the designers blush, the price tag certainly is.
A mini-bar table was shown to be bought for 4 million roubles ($76,000) could be easily impoted for less than 2 million roubles. However this pales in comparison with the $1200 Italian toilet brush.
The palace is full of furniture with vastly inflated price-tags. Photo / Navalny.com
The investigation says that corrupt practices have driven the total price tag up to an eye watering 1,000,000,000,000 roubles ($1.8 Bn). Most of which it showed to have been diverted from the Russian public purse.
In a post on the Navalny website announcing the investigation, the activist said the architectural plans for the vast project built between 2005 and 2010 were a matter of public interest.
Party pad: The investigation released photos of plans for slot machines and entertainment areas. Photo / Navalny.com
"Every room, every corridor, every square meter is from now on the property of the public. From now on, millions of Russians will be able to visit Putin's home."
Calling the palace Putin's "biggest secret", Navalny claimed the president was prepared to "kill for it".
There is a private Orthadox chapel in the grounds. Photo / Navalny.com
On Tuesday the 44-year old activist was arrested on return to Russia. He had recently recovered from an 18-day coma in Berlin after treatment for a suspected poisoning attempt.
Navalny is being held awaiting trial for allegedly violating the terms of a suspended embezzlement conviction from 2014. No date has been set.
