Ex Deputy Mayor of Moscow Owns 13 Apartments in Prague, Czech Finance Ministry Says
The family of State Duma deputy Vladimir Resin, who had been first deputy to Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov for 20 years, owns 13 apartments in Prague worth over 100 million crowns, Czech Television reports citing the Office of Financial Analysis of the Czech Ministry of Finance.
The politician’s family bought the last two apartments in March 2022, after the start of the war in Ukraine.
«All the apartments are located in a newly built complex in Zličín. They are registered to Contract Services, a company managed by Resin’s grandson, who has permanent residency Israel. Resin’s daughter and son-in-law control all of his assets. The company also owns a three hundred square meter apartment in Vršovice, where its head office is located. However, according to neighbors, the owners rarely visit the place,» the report says.
Resin supervised the construction sector in Moscow throughout Luzhkov’s mayoral term. Architectural critic of the Kommersant newspaper Grigory Revzin described Resin’s outlook as follows: «In 2000, I went on a gondola ride with Resin in Venice, and he said: »Look, the masonry is crumbling, if only they let Mospromstroy do business here, we would build a modern city.»
After Luzhkov’s resignation «due to loss of confidence» in September 2010, Resin worked for a month as acting mayor of Moscow. Under the new mayor Sergei Sobyanin Resin remained in his old position – first deputy mayor for construction – for another year. After that, Resin was elected to the State Duma.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) posted a video about Resin’s real estate in Prague in the fall of 2021. »The 11 apartments owned by Resin’s family in Prague were worth 147 million rubles at the time of purchase,» the investigators said.
The Czech authorities became interested in the property owned by Resin and other people included in the sanctions lists, after the start of the war in Ukraine.
The Czech Republic is already preparing new laws that would allow for the confiscation of property from sanctioned Russians, according to Czech Television. It is also a demand made by Ukraine.
«Freezing all Russian assets is a way to create a special fund to restore the Ukrainian economy, this is a way to help us,» the TV channel quoted Maria Kovakova, a Ukrainian government expert on European integration, as saying.
On May 27, Leonid Slutsky was appointed the new head of the LDPR party. Meduza reported in 2018 that «Leonid Slutsky’s career is linked» to Resin.
«Their close relationship generated rumors in the Duma that Slutsky is Resin’s illegitimate son. According to an acquaintance, the deputy doesn’t talk about his father even with members of his inner circle, but calls Resin »daddy» in private conversations,» the investigators say.
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