Pavel Khodorkovsky doubts Depardieu understands what actually happening in Russia
MOSCOW. Jan 11 (Interfax) - Pavel Khodorkovsky, the son of imprisoned former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has said he is against using the decision to grant Russian citizenship to French actor Gerard Depardieu to advertise Russia as a "tax haven".
According to the website of the Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev press center, Pavel "admires Depardieu's talent as an actor," but thinks that Depardieu's understanding of the situation with democracy in Russia is wrong.
"[Russian President] Vladimir Putin's decision to grant Russian citizenship to Mr. Depardieu in order to help him escape higher taxes, the manner in which this decision was pushed through and advertising Russia as a "tax haven" is an insult to Russian civil society," he said.
"My father - Mikhail Khodorkovsky - was one of the largest Russian taxpayers, but he was sentenced for tax evasion and has already spent nine years in prison," Pavel said.
"When it became clear that it was more profitable to expropriate his business than levy taxes on it, he was denied a fair trial," he said.
"Mr. Putin wants to prove to the rich that Russia is a haven for those who do not want to pay their fair share of taxes. But the fact that Mr. Putin is hiding the true price of this discount proves that bitter irony is the main Russian export commodity under his rule," Pavel Khodorkovsky said.
Putin signed a decree on January 3, making Depardieu a Russian citizen. The actor left France earlier, criticizing the government's plans to raise tax rates to 75% for those who earn more than one million Euros a year.
Depardieu's decision provoked a furious response from French political figures, including Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.
The decision to grant Russian citizenship to Depardieu marks the actor's serious contribution to the development of Russian culture and cinematography, the Russian president's press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Interfax.
"The thing is that Depardieu has played in a number of major film projects, including his work on the role of Rasputin. This film has not yet come out in our country, but it is a very daring and new interpretation of this role," Peskov said.