A secretly built yacht intended for President Vladimir Putin took to the water late last month at the Moscow Shipbuilding Factory.

A source in a river transport company said the motorized Pallada yacht was indeed Putin's. Neither the shipbuilders nor the presidential property department denied this. But whether the yacht was custom built for the president remains a point of contention.

The shipbuilding factory plans to mass-produce a series of identical ready-to-sail boats, so it is possible that the first one off the line was simply purchased for the president's use.

The shipbuilding factory's commercial director, Dmitry Mironenkov, would not confirm that the Kremlin's property department had placed an order for the first Pallada.

"The ethics of yacht-building dictate that we cannot comment on the details of the project without the client's permission," he said.

Mironenkov said they received an order for the boat last July and that the boat would be ready for service in mid-May. "I can only reveal that this vessel was built in record time -- not only to Russian standards, but to European standards, too."

Viktor Khrekov, spokesman for the presidential property department, flatly denied having commissioned the boat for Putin.

"We have not placed any orders for yachts for the president," he said.

Though the cost of the yacht photographed on the water in April has not been released, Mironenkov said the mass-produced version of the vessels would cost $4 million each. The company's web site says the boats were designed by Dutchman Guido de Groot, who previously worked for Citroen.

The Moscow Shipbuilding Factory specializes in motor-driven "super-yachts," measuring between 24 meters and 50 meters from bow to stern. The factory posted sales of 150 million rubles ($4.8 million) in 2002 and its order book stands at more than $40 million.

The Moscow River Shipping transportation and industrial group holds 71 percent of the factory, while 25 percent belongs to the Property Ministry.

At present, there is only one official presidential boat, the Rossia, according to the general director of the Moscow River Shipping Co., Konstantin Anisimov, whose firm manages the vessel.

The problem is, he said, the Rossia "is old and not particularly comfortable for high-ranking guests." It was spruced up in Finland in 1994, "but the planning and the interior were designed to the tastes of [former President Boris] Yeltsin," he added.

Putin occasionally uses another ship, the Kavkaz, which belongs to the Federal Border Service, Anisimov said. The Kavkaz was renovated last year at the Almaz ship building plant.

A fourth boat -- a $3 million navy cutter called the Burevestnik -- was commissioned by the Leningrad Naval Base to give Putin a suitable observation deck from which to watch some of the St. Petersburg jubilee festivities.

"Putin will be on board the Burevestnik for only a few hours, while surveying the parade in honor of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg," said a source at Severnaya Verf, the shipbuilding firm that recently wrapped up the boat's construction, which took two years.