Putin's Secret Riches Panorama


Putin's Secret Riches

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He's the world leader accused of personally approving murder

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on the streets of London.

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The conclusion that the Russian state was probably involved

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in the murder of Mr Litvinenko is deeply disturbing.

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But is the president implicated in an assassination

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also responsible for theft on an extraordinary scale?

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He has fleets of things

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that almost no billionaire in the West would have.

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Vladimir Putin has been accused of looting his own country.

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-TRANSLATION:

-Today, Putin behaves like a tsar.

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Tonight, we investigate the truth about President Putin's riches.

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Why would it be kept secret?

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And, for the first time, the Americans say what they really think

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about the Russian president.

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Is Vladimir Putin corrupt?

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In our view, yes.

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There is no other world leader

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like Vladimir Putin.

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Action man.

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Man of the people.

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PUTIN SPEAKS RUSSIAN

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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And ruler of Russia.

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WOMAN INTRODUCES PUTIN IN RUSSIAN

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From Ukraine to Syria, Vladimir Putin's influence

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is being felt.

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He's faced countless accusations of corruption,

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but still has record approval ratings in Russia.

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What do you think of Vladimir Putin?

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But should the Russian people trust Vladimir Putin?

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President Putin's official income is around 100,000 a year,

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and yet he lives like the super rich.

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He has a collection of expensive watches,

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even his designer tracksuit cost 3,000.

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He has a level of living

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that is far in excess of anything

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anyone in the West would have, even the very richest.

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It's that kind of level that we see from Saudi princes.

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So how rich is Vladimir Putin?

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Well, it may be one of Russia's best-kept secrets,

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but one journalist came up with a figure.

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Stanislav Belkovsky claimed Putin had secret share holdings

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in some of Russia's biggest companies.

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I met him in Moscow.

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IN ENGLISH:

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What figure did you come up with for Vladimir Putin's wealth?

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Putin himself dismissed the 40 billion claim.

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PUTIN SPEAKS IN RUSSIAN:

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But a secret CIA report agreed with Belkovsky's figure.

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In their view, Putin was worth around 40 billion.

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Did you tell the CIA the details of your 40-billion figure?

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No, no.

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IN ENGLISH:

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Russia's role in the Ukrainian conflict

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has led to closer scrutiny of Putin's finances.

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Many of his inner circle have faced financial sanctions

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from the Americans and the European Union.

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Now the US won't publicly confirm the 40-billion figure,

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but they have told Panorama what they think about Putin's wealth.

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I'm not in a position to give you figures,

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but what I can say is that

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he supposedly draws a state salary

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of something like 110,000 a year.

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That is not an accurate statement

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of the man's wealth.

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And he has long-time training and practices

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in terms of how to mask his actual wealth.

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Is Vladimir Putin corrupt?

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In our view, yes.

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How long has the United States known that Vladimir Putin

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was, in your words, a corrupt figure?

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I think for many, many years.

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Russia dismisses this sort of talk as nonsense.

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But the fact that the Americans are finally labelling Putin as corrupt

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shows how bad relations have become.

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So what's the truth about Putin's money?

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Has Russia's president been making billions on the side

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and, if he has, where's it all hidden?

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I've come to Estonia to meet a man who says

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he knows about some of Putin's cash.

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He fled Russia after falling out with Kremlin insiders.

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Our contact helped Putin collect money from the super rich.

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They all thought it was to pay for health care.

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But Sergei Kolesnikov says some of the donated cash was diverted

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and ultimately used to help build a billion-dollar palace for Putin.

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-TRANSLATION:

-Regrettably, these funds,

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which were supposed to be invested

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in decent investment projects

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to a significant extent,

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ended up being spent on a palace on the Black Sea coast.

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And here it is.

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President Putin says the palace is nothing to do with him.

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But we've seen documents linking Vladimir Putin

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to the palace at the time it was built.

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They show a secret money trail,

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and it's claimed Putin was at the heart of it.

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These are documents from one of the offshore companies

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that diverted millions of dollars to the palace.

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According to Kolesnikov, the owner of this company was Putin himself.

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The offshore company was overseen by Kolesnikov

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and his business partner, a Kremlin insider called Nikolai Shamalov.

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-TRANSLATION:

-Shamalov said that he was taking 96 shares,

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96%, keeping 2% for himself and he would be giving 94% to Putin.

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There's more evidence.

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Kolesnikov and Shamalov were recorded

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apparently discussing 440 million of investments belonging to Putin.

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They refer to Putin using a nickname - Mikhail Ivanovich.

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IN RUSSIAN:

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Shamalov is still a trusted Kremlin insider.

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In that recording, he was discussing Putin's secret fortune.

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Finding evidence like that about Putin is not easy.

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He used to run Russia's intelligence service.

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He knows how to hide secrets.

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Few from his inner circle ever talk,

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but Panorama has tracked down one who will.

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I've come to Nice in the south of France to meet him.

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So I'm at the hotel and we're about to be picked up

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and taken to the interview location.

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But the truth is we have no idea where we're going.

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We certainly don't have anything like an address.

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The reason is probably because

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the man that we're on our way to interview is on the run.

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He was one of Russia's richest and most important men.

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But he fled his homeland and says he can't go back.

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Merci.

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'His driver has brought me to a secret location.'

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Hi. How are you?

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This is Sergei Pugachev.

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He says he helped Putin become president.

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They were friends.

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Their children played together.

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-TRANSLATION:

-I had a very close relationship with Putin.

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Putin consulted me.

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Putin confided in me.

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Pugachev took Putin to see one of the presidential palaces.

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-TRANSLATION:

-Of course, this was an absolutely new world, new life.

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Of course, he was astonished by it.

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In that first term as president,

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what was Putin's attitude to money?

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-TRANSLATION:

-I think that Putin was preoccupied

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with the issue of wealth from the start.

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I think that for Putin, this was an important factor.

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We talked about it. He didn't hide it.

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He knew he wanted to leave office as a wealthy person.

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Vladimir Putin has come a long way.

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He wasn't born rich and to understand him,

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you need to go to his home city, St Petersburg.

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This is where he grew up, there on the fifth floor.

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Putin's family had one room in a shared apartment.

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No hot water and a shared kitchen in the corridor.

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Vladimir Putin grew up in poverty.

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But it was in St Petersburg that Vladimir Putin first tasted power.

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Back in the '90s, not long out of the KGB,

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Putin became a deputy mayor.

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On his watch, millions of dollars disappeared from public funds

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to a company called Twentieth Trust.

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The detective who investigated

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says Putin was one of those who benefitted.

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He says Putin ended up with a property in Torrevieja in Spain.

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-TRANSLATION:

-If Twentieth Trust

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is building a villa

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for Putin in Torrevieja,

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is this Putin personally receiving the money or not?

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In my opinion, the answer is straightforward.

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But the criminal case was closed after Putin became president.

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Zykov says he was forced into retirement.

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The Kremlin has denied the claims,

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but Spanish investigators reveal the details

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of wiretapped phone conversations

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between Russians who've been linked to organised crime.

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They can be heard discussing Putin's property in Spain.

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One of the gangsters says Putin's house is in Torrevieja,

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the same Spanish town Zykov had identified.

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It looks like Zykov was right - Putin got a house in Spain.

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So in St Petersburg, Putin learned how to profit from power.

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He also built a loyal team.

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After he moved to the Kremlin, they came with him.

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The men closest to Putin have been with him for years.

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They were with him here in St Petersburg

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and they've stayed with him ever since.

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This is the group that he trusts and that he rewards,

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and this is the group that runs Russia.

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Putin's lawyer at the Town Hall

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became President

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and then Prime Minister of Russia.

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His former deputy also served

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as Prime Minister.

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The Chief of Staff at the Town Hall

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now runs Russia's anti-drugs agency.

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His former assistant now runs the

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biggest oil company in the world.

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And his former economist now runs

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the biggest gas company

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in the world.

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All of them worked with Putin in this building.

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They rose up together. They went with him to Moscow.

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They have been a very stable elite.

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This whole group,

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who grabbed the commanding heights of the Russian economy,

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they all worked together in a very small office, in fact,

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in St Petersburg.

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As President, Putin was at the centre of this new elite.

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He had power and access to the super-rich.

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You can see how Putin used this by looking at his relationship

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with Britain's most famous Russian,

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Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

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He was one of the unwitting donors to Putin's Palace.

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He thought all his cash would be spent on health care,

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and he gave more than 200 million.

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-TRANSLATION:

-Abramovich's role was rather simple.

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He provided 203 million.

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Were these oligarchs effectively just paying tribute

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to Vladimir Putin?

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I think this is exactly what they thought.

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Abramovich and other wealthy Russians are expected to pay

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for important projects, like hosting the 2018 World Cup.

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APPLAUSE

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The Fifa World Cup, ladies and gentlemen,

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will be organised in Russia.

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But we have been told about a gift that can't be explained away

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as good for anyone other than Vladimir Putin.

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A 35 million yacht like this one,

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given by Roman Abramovich.

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And our source is the man who managed the yacht.

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He fell out with the Kremlin, he's a wanted man in Russia

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and he's living in the UK.

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KNOCKING

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-Hi.

-Hi.

-Dmitry, I am Richard.

-Yes, nice to meet you.

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Dmitry Skarga says he helped oversee the transfer of the boat

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from Abramovich to Putin.

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Skarga says the yacht was given to an offshore company

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but the real owner was President Putin.

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Why would it be kept secret?

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We have seen documents that appear to support Skarga's story.

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Roman Abramovich's lawyers said the claims were unsubstantiated,

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little more than a rehash of speculation and rumours.

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But they didn't specifically deny that he had given

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President Putin a yacht.

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You can hardly blame Abramovich for wanting to keep

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on Putin's good side.

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Standing up to him can be dangerous.

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This is billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky

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publicly challenging Putin about corruption.

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And this is where he ended up.

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Khodorkovsky was jailed for tax evasion and embezzlement.

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His business was taken by the Russian state.

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The beauty of the system is that it's organised and run

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according to the old adage -

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for my friends everything, for my enemies the law.

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The message that Putin chose to send to all of them

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was that I can put you in prison for anything.

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I don't need to have a watertight case.

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That is the genius of the system.

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Sergei Pugachev claims he lost his business too.

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He started a multi-billion dollar compensation claim

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against the Russian state.

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But the Russian authorities accuse him

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of stealing billions of dollars from a bank he used to own.

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-TRANSLATION:

-There is no court in Russia,

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that's why I went to the International Court.

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I am convinced that I will win.

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The Russian state says that you effectively looted your bank

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after it was bailed out by the Russian Central Bank.

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Did you do that?

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Well, of course not.

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These are absurd accusations not substantiated by anything.

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We don't know who is telling the truth about Pugachev's fortune,

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but the allegation is clear - Putin controls the super-rich in Russia.

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People who possess a fortune, a large business in Russia,

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realise that they do not own this, because everything depends on Putin.

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They depend 100% on his mood.

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For those who have been in Putin's circle,

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the benefits have been immense.

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A cellist who is godfather to Putin's daughter

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has a valuable stake in a major Russian bank.

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A neighbour has an even bigger stake.

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Another neighbour ended up running the railways.

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A childhood friend has made a fortune from government contracts.

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And his brother has made even more.

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The Americans say this is how Putin's Russia works.

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We have seen him enriching his friends, his close allies,

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and marginalising those who he doesn't view as friends

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using state assets,

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whether that's Russia's energy wealth,

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whether it's other state contracts,

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he directs those to whom he believes will serve him

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and excludes those who don't.

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And if you want to make money in Russia, this is the industry.

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The nation's greatest riches are in oil and gas.

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Russia exports well over a billion barrels of oil a year.

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And here too, Vladimir Putin has been accused

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of taking a cut for himself.

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Putin came and established a system where high-ranked officials

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actually want to control vital strategic assets.

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What we have now are

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a bunch of shady guys

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who barely appear in public,

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and who control vital businesses

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linked to the state,

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which makes one think and wonder whether they are real beneficiaries

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of their business, or somebody superpowerful is behind their back.

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I have come to New York to meet a man who says Putin

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took a slice of his oil business.

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He is yet another Russian who has fled abroad.

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He says his life has been threatened.

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This is his first TV interview.

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-Max. Hi.

-Hi.

-Pleased to meet you, I'm Richard.

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Max Freidzon started his business in St Petersburg

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when Putin was deputy mayor.

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Putin gave him a monopoly to supply oil to the local airport,

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but he says the help came at a price.

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-TRANSLATION:

-I know from my business partner that Putin asked

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for a share in the business.

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Initially, they were asking for 15%.

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He called them greedy bastards.

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He managed to talk them down to 4%.

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Obviously, this wasn't registered in any official papers.

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The Kremlin says Max's story is untrue.

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But the Americans have highlighted another energy company

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that they say Putin has links to.

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It is called Gunvor.

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According to the Americans,

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Putin had secret investments in the company.

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What exactly do you mean by investments?

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We believe it's a place where he has stored money.

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How much money would you say?

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I can't give you an estimate on that.

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Gunvor told us these claims were...

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..and that...

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The Americans insist they are right

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but they haven't provided any evidence.

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It's important because Gunvor has traded much of Russia's state oil.

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It's made big profits, and nearly half of the company

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was owned by this man, Gennady Timchenko,

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one of Putin's friends.

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He has now sold his stake.

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It is said he is worth 10 billion.

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And he is on the US sanctions list.

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The Americans claim his activities in the energy sector

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have been directed by President Putin.

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Has Gennady Timchenko been holding wealth for Vladimir Putin,

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do you think?

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I don't know if I would put it exactly that way

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in terms of holding his wealth -

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I can say that he has been tremendously enriched personally

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by Vladimir Putin,

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as have another handful of people in Putin's inner circle.

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And of course, there are allegations, suspicions,

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that he holds tremendous amounts of Putin's wealth.

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Gennady Timchenko's lawyers said the US has never produced any evidence

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and its claims were...

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Mr Timchenko categorically denies that President Putin

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has ever controlled his assets or enriched him,

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but two of our sources say Mr Timchenko

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was very much under the control of Vladimir Putin.

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How do you know?

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-TRANSLATION:

-From the very start,

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Putin understood that money which Timchenko was managing,

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one way or another, without any doubt, belonged to Putin.

0:26:340:26:39

It was never a secret.

0:26:390:26:42

Mr Timchenko's lawyers say our two main sources

0:26:440:26:48

are not credible and may have axes to grind.

0:26:480:26:51

President Putin denies all the allegations in this programme.

0:26:560:27:00

His spokesman declined to answer our "absurd questions"

0:27:000:27:05

because the issues we had raised were "pure fiction."

0:27:050:27:09

This all matters because President Putin

0:27:140:27:16

is one of the most powerful people on the planet.

0:27:160:27:21

But he has been accused of using that power to enrich himself

0:27:210:27:26

on a vast scale.

0:27:260:27:27

-TRANSLATION:

-I started arguing with Shamalov and he said to me,

0:27:300:27:35

"Who do you think you are?

0:27:350:27:37

"You are a serf."

0:27:370:27:38

"The Tsar," he often called Putin the Tsar,

0:27:380:27:42

"The Tsar made a decision.

0:27:420:27:43

"Your job is that of a serf - to deliver."

0:27:430:27:47

Some say that Putin can demand anything he wants,

0:27:510:27:55

so almost any figure for his wealth is meaningless.

0:27:550:27:59

-TRANSLATION:

-Putin considers everything within the territory

0:27:590:28:03

of the Russian Federation,

0:28:030:28:05

everything that can be converted into cash, to be his own.

0:28:050:28:09

How would you describe that kind of wealth?

0:28:090:28:13

Putin has been accused of corruption on an extraordinary scale.

0:28:260:28:31

The modern tsar who plundered his own empire.

0:28:310:28:34

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