Russia, Putin's scientific rapporteur fails to declare millions of euros

2021-03-30T18:42:07.306Z

Vladimir Litvinenko, rector of the St. Petersburg Mining University and former scientific advisor to Vladimir Putin in 1997, when the future Russian president discussed his doctoral thesis, has for years failed to declare the equivalent of millions of euros. The scholar collects as dividends, being the shareholder of Phosagro Holding, one of the largest producers of phosphate-based fertilizers in the world. The rector, called by the local media "the richest rector in Russia", owns the 21% stake in Phosagro Holding. Dividends from 2014 to 2019 would amount to 20 billion rubles (over 200 million euros). In the same period, the rector declared 1.3 billion rubles (the equivalent of 14.5 million euros). In the same period, the rector's stake in Phosagro Holding had risen from 10% in 2007 to 4.92% in 2014 and up to 21% in 2019. Russian law allows dividends to be omitted if used for the purchase of other shares , but the share purchased amounts to 30.5 billion rubles (about 340 million euros). According to the analyst of Transparency International Russia, Ilya Shumanov, the accounts do not add up.