President Vladimir Putin has elevated at least 24 relatives to government positions or jobs in state companies, likely a record number for Russian rulers over the last 100 years, the independent investigative outlet Proekt reported on Thursday.
The network of beneficiaries reportedly includes the families of four women connected to Putin, two of his known daughters, his paternal cousins Yevgeny Putin, Igor Putin and Lyubov Kruglova, as well as his maternal cousin Lyubov Shelomova.
Yevgeny Putin’s daughter Anna Tsivilyova serves as deputy defense minister, while her husband Sergei Tsivilyov is Russia’s energy minister and her brother Mikhail Putin is deputy CEO of Gazprom.
Kruglova’s son Viktor Khmarin heads the major Russian electricity company RusHydro.
Proekt's investigation includes the recent rise of a third generation of Putin’s relatives to high-ranking positions in state-affiliated companies.
The findings build on a new book by Proekt’s senior editors Roman Badanin and Mikhail Rubin, “The Tsar Himself: How Vladimir Putin Deceived Us All,” which details the Russian leader’s alleged long-term personal relationships and the network of influence surrounding them.
Besides ex-wife Lyudmila Ocheretnaya, the women linked to Putin include former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, former cleaner turned multimillionaire Svetlana Krivonogikh and Alisa Kharcheva, a former Moscow State University student who posed for Putin’s birthday calendar.
According to Proekt’s investigation, Kharcheva’s father heads the Dialog NGO, which promotes dialogue between the state and society and has been involved in facilitating state-backed initiatives.
Putin and the Kremlin have not publicly acknowledged the connections detailed in either the Proekt investigation or the book.
Proekt’s investigation is part of a larger project that analyzes nepotism in Russia based on the biographies of 1,300 officials and 8,000 of their relatives and in-laws.
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