Exactly. Today we filed an administrative lawsuit with the Tverskoy District Court in Moscow. The defendant: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation.
This defendant violated the federal law "On Combating Corruption"—and not in some vague political sense, or in general terms, but in a completely specific and personal way. That is why I am asking the court to compel him to remedy these violations.
It’s very simple. Let me explain, and I’m sure you’ll support me.
Vladimir Putin has a daughter — Katerina Tikhonova.
His daughter has a husband — Kirill Shamalov.
Therefore, Vladimir Putin has a son-in-law — Kirill Shamalov.
Through Yauza 12 LLC, Kirill Shamalov owns a large stake in Russia’s biggest petrochemical company, SIBUR. Here is a detailed account of how he acquired it. All of this is based on public records—you can verify it yourself through the registries.
It so happened (SUDDENLY) that after Kirill Shamalov (the son-in-law) became a SIBUR shareholder, Vladimir Putin (the father-in-law) developed a real fondness for SIBUR. So much so that he personally issued an order to allocate $1.75 billion from the National Wealth Fund to the company.
In other words, he personally handed a portion of the Russian people’s wealth to his son-in-law. Was he allowed to do that? Legally, yes. He had that authority—but he was required to disclose the conflict of interest.
The whole point is that Russia has a law on combating corruption. That law defines the concept of a "conflict of interest":
In short, a conflict of interest exists when an official has a "personal interest," and that arises when certain people—including the spouses of one’s children—benefit from your decision.
Kirill Shamalov is the husband of Putin’s daughter. Putin allocating money to a company whose beneficiary is his child’s spouse is a textbook conflict of interest. Exactly the kind of perfect case you would use to explain what a conflict of interest actually is.
A conflict of interest is not, in itself, a crime. Such situations can arise, and the key requirement is this: take appropriate measures, disclose the conflict of interest, and, if necessary, recuse yourself.
Put bluntly, in this situation Putin was obliged to say: I want to give money to SIBUR, but my son-in-law is among its shareholders, so I am informing you, citizens of Russia, of this conflict of interest. I will not decide this matter myself—let Medvedev sign it.
That’s all. But none of this was done. That is already a serious violation and the first sign of corruption.
The law, legal principle, and plain common sense are all on our side. Even if you are a Putin supporter, you are unlikely to insist that he should personally hand out our billions to his relatives. All we are demanding is this: acknowledge the conflict of interest, disclose it, and do not make such decisions personally.
Here is the text of our lawsuit.
Here is the text of the complaint to the prosecutor’s office (haha, but under the law it is supposed to oversee compliance with the law).
Here is the text of the complaint to the Presidential Administration (haha again, but under the law Putin is supposed to file there).
If you think our demand that V.V. Putin disclose this conflict of interest is justified, we would be very grateful if you helped share this post and this video, where I explain the case for those who prefer watching to reading.
If you like what the ACF (Anti-Corruption Foundation) does, don’t forget to stop by here — we exist thanks to your donations.
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