KEY POINTS:
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin has seen his modest wealth decline still further during his second term in office, with the drop blamed on a fall-off in book royalties, a Kremlin spokesman said.
Although Moscow is one of the world's most expensive cities, few of its politicians admit to enjoying the high-rolling boom so common among the business elite, according to official wealth declarations published by the Central Electoral Commission.
Among the most modest of all is Putin's declaration, which lists his father's two Russian cars dating from the early 1960s among his assets, along with 3.7 million roubles ($197,305), a small apartment in St Petersburg, a 1500 sq m plot of land outside Moscow and 230 shares in a local bank.
Compared with his declaration before the 2004 presidential elections, Putin's wealth had halved, reported Russian business paper Vedomosti.
"He had some royalties revenues from his publications and right now he doesn't have that kind of income," said Putin's spokesman.
Although the United States President George W. Bush earns an annual income of US$400,000 ($522,880), Putin's salary is just 2,011,000 roubles ($107,260) - a pittance in a country where top bankers and oil executives can earn more than their counterparts in London.
The same modest lifestyle extends to other top Russian legislators, according to their wealth declarations.
Boris Gryzlov, the Duma's Speaker and head of its largest party, United Russia, has a salary of 1,761,882 roubles. He owns a Moscow flat, a small Mazda car, a 1970 Russian car and 28,713 roubles in savings.
One of the few aspirants to declare significant wealth is a former KGB agent Britain wants to extradite on murder charges. Andrei Lugovoy, now a candidate for the nationalist LDPR party, declared a stake in three businesses, a BMW X5 car, three houses, an apartment and a dacha along with five plots of land.
Prime numbers
President Vladimir Putin, Russia, NZ$107,260
Prime Minister Helen Clark $360,000
President Nicolas Sarkozy, France, $450,480
President George W. Bush, United States, $522,880
- Reuters
