As the saying goes, congratulations and much love. Two people found each other, and we have no questions about that. What we do have questions about is the groom’s wristwatch. After all, the happy newlywed has been in government service since 1989, through the Foreign Ministry, and could not possibly have legally amassed millions.
And the watch (on his right hand, like the boss!) clearly suggests there are some details in his biography that we do not know. It is a Richard Mille RM 52-01. It was released in a limited edition of just 30 pieces.
Online, the price of this watch ranges from 600,000 euros to 1,400,000 dollars. Yesterday, we wrote to the official boutique and found out the exact price.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation had noticed the watch a long time ago:
but now there are so many photos of it from the “wedding of the year” that we decided to ask the question publicly.
From what sources could the press secretary to the head of state buy a watch worth four times his annual salary?
Was it a gift?
No, that does not work either. Officials who receive gifts worth more than 3,000 rubles (about $30) are required to report them and surrender them for safekeeping. Under the new rules (since 2014), they can buy them back at market value, which means Mr. Peskov still would have had to pay those same 37 million rubles.
What we see in the photos from the “wedding of the year” is not just a wedding, but a classic example of “illicit enrichment.” There is a watch that costs as much as an apartment, but there is no legal income to pay for such a watch.
It is hard not to recall the Polish transport minister, who was forced to resign over failing to declare a watch worth $5,500 — that is, 112 times less than Peskov’s.
It is also hard not to recall official Peskov’s notorious remark that “the livers of protesters should be smeared across the asphalt.” Of course, people protest against corruption — that is, against the supposed right of people like Peskov to take million-dollar bribes and use them to buy watches better suited to a billionaire than to a public official living at the people’s expense.
So yes, this is personal. For the sake of his beautiful Richard Mille watch, Dmitry Peskov will smear your liver too, keep you away from the elections, and lie on television for as long as necessary.
PS We await official clarification from the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation (where Mr. Peskov is employed) regarding the source of the funds used to purchase this watch.
PPS HAHAHAHA. I have not laughed this hard in a long time: