Vladimir Putin has today signed a decree that grants Russian citizenship to French film veteran Gérard Depardieu.
This is the latest development in the brouhaha surrounding the actor’s very public opposition to François Hollande’s proposed 75 per cent tax on those earning over 1m euros. The proposal was rejected by the French Constitutional Court on Sunday on the grounds it is unfair as it will be applied only to individuals. The President insists that he will push through a revised version of the measure.
Depardieu expressed his intention to give up his French nationality in an open letter to to French PM Jean-Marc Ayrault, who had previously described the actor as “pathetic” and “unpatriotic”.
According to France’s civil code, which rules that a person cannot be stateless, Putin’s offer of a passport will allow Depardieu to give up his French nationality. His earnings will now be subject to Russian tax, which is fixed at 13 per cent.
The actor has a warm relationship with the Russian leader, who had already declared two weeks ago that “If Gérard wants a Russian passport, it is a done deal”. Meanwhile, last week Depardieu was heard in his Parisian restaurant boasting, “Putin has already sent me a passport.”
Depardieu also has close ties with Chechnya’s controversial President Ramzan Kadyrof, who has been accused by human rights groups of persecuting his critics, among other offences. The actor was filmed at Kadyrif’s birthday party in October 2012 making a rousing speech in which he cried “Glory to Ramzan Kadryof”. He is well-known in Russia, appearing in television campaigns for a grocery chain, Sovietski bank and a brand of ketchup.
He has recently purchased a home in the Belgian border town of Néchin, where he now officially resides. Almost a third of the town’s inhabitants are French, and it is well-known as a tax avoidance pied à terre for France’s high-earners. Depardieu reportedly still spends much of his time in Paris.
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