Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.He earned 134,250 dollars last year, owns a plot of land, two flats, two garages, two cars, a jeep and a trailer.
Who is this upwardly mobile individual with a solid if unspectacular income and assets? None other than Russia's strongman prime minister and the de facto number one of the world's largest country, Vladimir Putin.
The details were unveiled on Monday in the now annual official declaration of the income of top Russian officials, a practice aimed at deterring corruption in post-Soviet Russia.
Putin's 2009 declared income of 3.88 million rubles (134,250 dollars) was down 17 percent on his income declared in 2008, possibly due to the economic crisis his government has been working to combat.
His rarely-seen wife Lydmila, who in 2008 had declared zero income, for 2009 declared a minuscule 582 rubles (20 dollars), said a statement posted on the government website.
It was not clear how she came across this money.
Former president Putin's income means he is still on paper a higher earner than his Kremlin successor Dmitry Medvedev, who earned 3.3 million rubles (114,000 dollars) in 2009, according to a separate statement on the Kremlin website.
Another eye-catching revelation is that the wife of Putin's right hand man on economic matters, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, earns 100 times as much as her husband.
While Shuvalov declared an income of 6.5 million rubles (224,000 dollars) - including property assets in Austria and Britain - his wife declared 641.9 million rubles (22 million dollars) of income in 2009.
The richest man in the Russian cabinet with 155 million rubles (5.3 million dollars) of income in 2009 was Environment Minister Yuri Trutnev, retaining the position he held last year.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments