Behind the High Fence. Putin’s Friend Has Taken Over the General Secretary’s Residence

Gennady “Gangrene” Timchenko.

Now we’re going to tell you and show you how this man has settled in

in Moscow—this close friend, business partner, and one

of Vladimir Putin’s financial bagmen.

This man, one of the richest people in Russia, with a fortune

of more than $11 billion, was placed under Western sanctions

specifically as a business partner of the Russian president.

And let me remind you, the business they set up was very simple.

Oil is extracted in Russia and sold to the West.

And when Vladimir Putin became president, he forced

the largest oil companies to export oil not

directly, but through the offshore Swiss company Gunvor,

owned by Timchenko and another of Putin’s childhood friends,

Petya Kolbin, whom I’ve already made

a video about—you can click and watch it.

And at one point, 30% of all Russian oil

sold to the West—and that is an enormous amount—

was going through this intermediary company.

It skimmed a little money off every one of our

barrels of oil.

Timchenko became fabulously rich, but he felt no great gratitude

toward our country.

He gave up Russian citizenship so as not to pay

any taxes here, lived permanently in Switzerland,

and the only thing tying him to Russia was that he was stealing our

oil dollars.

But after sanctions were imposed, there was nothing else to do, and

our “Gangrene” had to return to Moscow.

By the way, we didn’t make up “Gangrene”—that’s the real

nickname Gennady Timchenko has in Putin’s circle.

This was revealed in a famous interview by businessman

Sergei Kolesnikov, who built Putin’s palace in Gelendzhik.

Now let’s move on to the fun pictures.

This is the view of Moscow from Timchenko’s house, filmed by an FBK combat drone

(FBK, the Anti-Corruption Foundation).

And Muscovites will immediately say to me: whoa, whoa, whoa, Alexei.

We know this view.

Everyone knows this view.

Half of Moscow’s wedding parties go there for photos.

That’s Sparrow Hills, one of the favorite leisure spots

for city residents and visitors to the capital.

Nobody can live there.

There simply cannot be a private house there.

And I’ll answer sadly: you may not be allowed to have a house there,

but Putin’s friend can.

What’s more, you even paid for it.

What we’re flying toward is the former residence

of CPSU General Secretary Nikita Sergeyevich

Khrushchev.

A state building of historical importance,

an architectural landmark and heritage site..

It really would have been rather improper to simply

hand it over to a billionaire oligarch for use as a private home.

But our country is run by crooks and thieves, so in

2013, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, by personal order,

transferred the residence to an offshore company from the British Virgin

Islands for the purpose of opening a hotel.

Without any competition or tenders whatsoever.

He just handed it over.

No hotel ever appeared there, of course; instead there is

a huge private house, more than 1,000 sq. m, and nearly three hectares

(about 7.4 acres) of surrounding land were filled with new buildings.

The man who moved into this renovated general secretary’s residence was Gennady

Timchenko.

That this very place became Gangrene’s new home

was reported in investigations by Vedomosti and other media outlets.

In an interview, Timchenko himself described his new Moscow

home as “done in the classic Soviet

style,” with paintings in the spirit of Socialist Realism.

He complained that he had to speak to the staff by radio,

and even posed for photographs inside it.

But stories about this mysterious place in the very center of the capital

were usually accompanied by photos like these—a towering

stone wall, dense trees, a street from which

nothing can be seen.

From the middle of the last century to the present day, over

more than 50 years, not a single

photograph of this state dacha (country residence) had been published.

No one was allowed anywhere near the secret site behind

the three-meter fence.

The Anti-Corruption Foundation is lifting the veil of secrecy

from this historic property, which belongs to all of us

but has been temporarily occupied

by Vladimir Putin’s friend and financial bagman, Gennady Timchenko.

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“The main house is a 1,000-square-meter mansion.

The idea of placing government dachas on Lenin Hills

belonged to Beria.

He would be amazed if he knew who lives in this dacha now.

Still, hardly anything remains of the old structure except the frame

and foundation; the house itself has been completely rebuilt.

We can see a children’s playground with a slide.

Next, an enormous helipad, which has become practically the

center of the residence.

As they say, aesthetics are hardly the priority here.

A harsh necessity for any Muscovite—after all, you can’t

spend all day stuck in traffic, can you?

On the right there’s a gazebo and apparently a summer kitchen.

Now we see a separate building—this is a sauna with a pool,

and a little later we’ll show you what’s inside as well.

Curiously, this is a completely unauthorized structure.

This building appears in no official documents.

The property ends here, and we can see the guest houses

of the FSO (Federal Protective Service) on the neighboring plot.

We turn around and fly back.

Take a look at the grounds.

Don’t think it ends right behind the house—no.

It stretches deep into the forest, surrounded by a huge

solid fence with a dozen surveillance cameras.

A garage and a checkpoint.

It’s very difficult to estimate the value of such a residence; the location

is unique and there’s simply nothing comparable. Three hectares

of the most expensive land on Rublyovka would cost around

2 billion rubles, but this, excuse me, is not Rublyovka—it’s the former residence

of a general secretary on Sparrow Hills.

We estimate the absolute minimum value at 3 to 3.5 billion

rubles.

And let me remind you, this is outright fraud—the property was

handed over without any competition for use as a hotel.

To this day, nothing has changed; here is the official

cadastral extract.

See what it says?

HOTEL.

Ah, you’ll say, it would be great to get even a quick glimpse

of what’s inside.

We’ll show you.

We don’t need any spy equipment for that.

A careful search through social media is enough.

The workers who were fitting out the residence couldn’t resist

having a little fun and took lots of funny photos in the lavish

interiors.

“Here is that very illegal building in the far part

of the property—you saw it from the air.”

Now we know for sure: it’s a bathhouse complex.

Here’s the sauna, this is the hammam, this is the plunge pool, a giant jacuzzi tub,

and of course a swimming pool with little dolphins.

Khrushchev was never entitled to anything like that.

As we can see, the workers are free of class prejudices, and they’re

having a great time in Gangrene’s VIP bathhouse.”

“This is the main house during construction. Take a look

at this photo of the stairwell.”

Let’s compare it with the official photo of Gennady Timchenko

“in a home interior,” and there can be no doubt.

What is the moral of this whole story?

It is that in Russia, a new kind of political system has been invented.

On the one hand, everything is state-owned— from state companies to these

residences; on the other hand, the state itself

simply belongs to a gang of fraudsters who run it

as their personal property.

Without the slightest oversight from any quarter.

State oil companies hand over their money to them.

State media broadcast propaganda on their behalf.

They have turned state residences into private homes.

The police and the FSB (Russia’s security service) have been turned into private security outfits,

which go after those who disagree with what is happening

and are outraged by it.

Just think about it.

Who is this Timchenko, really?

A billionaire at your and my expense, that’s who.

But in essence, he’s just some obscure Finnish citizen

who has, in the literal sense of the word, occupied a historic

piece of land in the best part of the city.

That is why, and I will never tire of repeating it, this government must be fought

by every possible means.

In word and in deed— whatever each person can do.

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