Expensive and tasteless
This is how Putin’s ex-lover lives
4/8/2022 4:26 PM
Those who want to get a taste of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle up close can rent an apartment in Saint Petersburg. It has an area of about 500 square meters, costs 9000 euros per month plus utilities, and it seems to be owned by a former mistress of the Russian president.
Svetlana Krivonozhich has a great taste in interior design. This shouldn’t really matter – but that’s not the case with her. Because the 47-year-old is considered a former lover of Vladimir Putin and the mother of an illegitimate daughter.
The BBC found out that Krivonogikh owns a luxury apartment in Saint Petersburg – an area of 447 square meters, located on an island in the city center. There are representative properties from the time of the tsars, after the end of the Soviet Union, new housing complexes were built there. Krivonogikh’s apartment is located in a new building similar to one of these mansions. According to the BBC, the owner is currently renting it at the equivalent of $9,000 a month. Without additional costs.
So, if you want to move into an apartment, you not only have to have a lot of money, but also a tendency to blow up, gold-colored decor, loaded furniture, and a lot of other tacky things. And the BBC published pictures of the apartment that appeared on the agent’s website. However, the offer is currently no longer available.
The style of the furniture combines the luxurious aesthetics of the hotel lobby, brothel and tsarist ensemble. It impressively shows that you can’t buy taste.
This display of wealth is not only interesting because it offers a glimpse into the reality of Putin’s inner circle. It also highlights the nepotism and corruption of this regime, which amassed a great fortune in a short period of time.
First a janitor, then a millionaire
The anti-corruption project of Russian dissident Alexig Navalny had reported on Krivonozhikh’s rapid financial rise and linked it to Putin. Accordingly, she came from modest circumstances and was a cleaner. Since the late 1990s, she has owned several luxury apartments and a yacht. In addition, she is said to own shares in a business center in Saint Petersburg and in a ski resort where Putin likes to spend his free time. It also acquired a small stake in the Bank of Russia. The financial institution is considered the bank of Putin’s power district.
Navalny’s project estimated Krivonozhikh’s fortune at about $ 100 million. She owned the apartment in Saint Petersburg in 2004, a year after the birth of her daughter.
The apartment complex in Saint Petersburg was built by a company linked to the Bank of Russia, according to the BBC. There are 21 apartments in the complex, which were said to have been sold to members of Putin’s closest circle. Among them are the friend of the oligarch and judoka Arkady Rotenberg and the owner of the Russian steel giant Severstal Alexei Mordashov.
Putin keeps his private life as secret as possible. He was married to Lyudmila Alexandrovna Putina for 20 years, and she is the mother of two daughters. In 2013 they divorced. It is said that Krivonozhich and Putin have been in a relationship for several years. The current lover is the former gymnast Alina Kabaeva. Putin is said to have several children with a 38-year-old.