Vladimir V. Putin has stepped into the feud between Gérard Depardieu, the French actor and would-be tax exile, and France's tax-the-rich Socialist government.
In a one line statement from the Kremlin on Thursday, it was revealed the Russian president had granted citizenship to the man who once played “mad monk†Grigory Rasputin in one of his many films.
As David M. Herszenhorn reports from Moscow a public feud between Mr. Depardieu and French officials has grown nastier, with Mr. Depardieu complaining of France's high tax rates on the wealthy and French politicians and commentators lambasting him for renouncing his French citizenship and registering as a resident of Néchin in Belgium, which has lower taxes.
A spokesman for Mr. Putin, Dmitri Peskov, said that Mr. Depardieu had recently applied for citizenship, and that it was granted in honor of his cultural achievements.
David writes:
It seemed likely, however, that Mr. Putin also saw a poetic opportunity in the chance for Russia, long known for losing wealthy citizens to the West, to claim one in return - and not just anyone, but a macho actor instantly recognizable by a giant nose that seems made for sniffing Bordeaux by the barrel.
In a published cri de coeur last month, the actor hit back at officials who had condemned him as “pathetic†for announcing he was quitting France and moving to Belgium after the government threatened to impose a top tax rate of 75 percent.
A subsequent decision by France's Constitutional Council to reverse the measure failed to change his mind.
Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, the French government spokeswoman, had no direct comment on the latest development, saying Mr. Putin's offer “is an exclusive prerogative of the Russian chief of state.â€
We asked Rendezvous readers last month if they would leave home to escape taxes. Well, now's your chance to tell us if you would still leave, if it meant moving to Russia.
