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Putin must make a fortune on 255 luxury flats in London that will fund the embassy refurbishment before any surplus profits are sent to the Kremlin
- Russia to build 255 apartments on Kensington site it bought in 2006 for £8 million
- Vladimir Putin will earn hundreds of millions of pounds from development
- It plans to use the profits to renovate its embassy buildings in the capital
- Moscow banker convicted of corruption appears closely involved
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Vladimir Putin will earn hundreds of millions of pounds from a luxury development in an exclusive part of London, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Russia is building 255 flats on a site in Kensington it bought in 2006 for £8 million with the help of an offshore company.
It plans to use the scheme’s huge profits to refurbish its embassy buildings in the capital.
Vladimir Putin will earn hundreds of millions of pounds from a luxury development in an exclusive part of London, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Moscow-based banker Elena Kotova, who was convicted of corruption, is named in planning applications to Kensington and Chelsea Council
But documents seen by this newspaper show that any “surplus” goes to the Kremlin.
The MoS may also reveal that a Moscow-based banker convicted of corruption appears to have been heavily involved in the development.
Elena Kotova is mentioned in planning applications to Kensington and Chelsea Council.
She lost her job at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) because she was convicted of corruption for asking £1 million in bribes in Moscow in 2014.
Russia is building 255 flats on a site in Kensington it bought in 2006 for £8 million with the help of an offshore company (stock image)
The UK’s National Crime Agency also concluded that from 2005 to 2011, Kotova had asked for bribes to green-light projects at the EBRD and seized her £1.5 million London apartment and £230,000 in cash. She maintains her innocence.
Land Registry documents show that the Russian Foreign Ministry and a state bank bought the land to be developed at 245 Warwick Road, Kensington.
It is governed by a complicated structure. Numerous planning applications have been submitted for the site since 2008, which were approved by Kensington and Chelsea Council in 2012.
Russia plans to use the scheme’s huge profits to refurbish its embassy buildings in the capital
Based on similar developments, the Kremlin is poised to turn its £8 million investment into hundreds of millions of pounds.
The news that Moscow is profiting from property speculation in the UK while waging a costly war in Ukraine is bound to cause dismay.
This year, oligarchs with close ties to President Putin have been hit by sanctions.
Elsewhere in London, Kremlin properties include at least 12 flats and houses in central London. The portfolio is valued at £100 million.
The Russian embassy did not respond to a request for comment.