Gerard Depardieu might be bidding “Au revoir!” to France this year but Russian President Vladimir Putin is hoping that Depardieu will consider saying “привет.”
The Russian President has offered the French actor a Russian passport. Putin, apparently a Depardieu fan (who knew?), made the offer during his press conference, saying:
If Gerard really wants to have either a residency permit in Russia or a Russian passport, we will assume that this matter is settled and settled positively.
Earlier reports that Depardieu had already received a passport from the Russian President turned out to be a joke. However, the actor has made no secret about the fact that moving to Russia is a consideration.
Depardieu has many friends in Russia. He has done movies and ad campaigns in the country and met a few influential politicians along the way including Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic. Kadyrov has been a controversial figure of late; while he was initially credited with restoring stability to the region, he has also been accused of human rights violations.
In France, the question about Depardieu’s citizenship arose after he sharply criticized France’s tax structure. France’s Prime Minister, who has pushed through a new millionaire’s tax for 2013, fired back, accusing Depardieu of being “shabby” and “unpatriotic.”
Russia, on the other hand, has a relatively low tax rate. Resident taxpayers are subject to personal income tax at a flat rate of 13%.
