Due to the nature of their activities, politicians almost always lead a public life. Those in power are precisely those people whom the people know, those who have aroused the trust of voters and secured the support of the majority.
Of course, there are exceptions everywhere. A striking example is the personal life of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, which the politician does not talk about, and answers questions from the press concisely and with great reluctance. However, in the age of the information boom, all sorts of speculation and theories quickly began to float around the president’s relatives. It is the children of Vladimir Putin who are of great interest, of whom the politician himself is very proud, but does not give detailed reasons for his admiration. Let's try to figure out who actually calls the father of one of the most famous politicians in the world.
Who are Putin's children?
There is an opinion that there is a direct connection between the desire to hide some details of one’s biography and the president’s past. Vladimir Putin used to work in the KGB and this is a well-known fact. But why hide your family life now? The answer to this question may lie in secret documents and archives of national importance, but there is no point in discussing this now. Before constructing such theories, it is worth figuring out whether Putin has children at all, and how likely it is that the little information that has been published is true.
Family photo of Putin with daughters Maria and Ekaterina
Today on the Internet you can easily find information that Vladimir Putin had two daughters of the same age in the mid-80s. Their names are Maria and Katerina. It is worth noting that the girls were born long before their father began to occupy top leadership positions, but this does not in any way affect the fact that little is known about the politician’s children today. Now journalists are constantly interested in where Putin’s daughters live and what they do. Even the president himself commented on this and said that both Masha and Katya are starting their careers very successfully, but he did not specify in what area they work. He especially emphasized that his children have nothing to do with politics and business, so it is unlikely that an investigation by journalists will reveal interesting details. Whether this is true, or whether Putin simply wants to protect his family from unnecessary attention, is difficult to say. The president’s terse answer did not reveal any secrets, so let’s try to figure out how the politician’s children live, based on known facts.
Where do Vladimir Putin's daughters study, live and work?
For clarity, it’s worth looking at the biographies of Katya and Masha separately. At first it may seem that their personal life is shrouded in secrets, but some confirmed facts still shed light on the life of Vladimir Vladimirovich’s family members.
Father's daughters. Biographies of Vladimir Putin's daughters
Vladimir Putin probably has two daughters - Maria and Ekaterina. The Russian president carefully hides information about them, explaining this for security reasons. However, from time to time, bits of information leak into the media, and such an intriguing topic as the fate of the daughters of the Russian President becomes the lot of journalistic articles and investigations, both in Russia and abroad.
Like, for example, in this German newspaper
We collected some of the information from various media, obtained literally bit by bit, and compiled a kind of dossier that allows us to generally reconstruct the biographies of these attention-grabbing women.
Maria Vorontsova-Faassen
Putin's eldest daughter, Maria, was born in Leningrad in April 1985. She spent her early childhood in Germany, where her father worked at that time. In the early 1990s, she studied at the elite German school in St. Petersburg “Peterschule”, and since 1996, also at the elite school, but in Moscow. Maria’s former classmate said:
“Putin’s daughters were no longer proud of their academic success, but of the authority of their parents. All this “elite” was aloof from other students, and Maria Putina generally communicated with few people and did not really like society. Then Masha left school altogether to be homeschooled. Probably for safety reasons, but I think she had other problems - with her academic performance."
Putin's eldest daughter Maria Vorontsova-Faassen
After her father became president in 2000, Maria switched to home schooling. She received her secondary education diploma in 2002. The period from 2002 to 2005 is the first blank spot in Maria’s biography. Where she was during these years and what she did is unknown.
It is only known that in 2005 she entered St. Petersburg State University, where she studied to become a biologist. Naturally, she studied by correspondence, teachers came to her home. Students of the Faculty of Biology and Soil Science, who studied in the same years, told reporters:
“No one has seen Masha Putin here, even though we are in the same class. Our teachers said that they sometimes taught her on Sundays. Mostly at home, but sometimes due to practice, classes were on weekends and at the university.”
Both of Putin’s daughters were listed in universities under different names - Maria Vorontsova and Ekaterina Tikhonova. They still live under these names.
The sons of the banker Pugachev and the daughters of Putin. Early 2000s
On November 22, 2012, Maria married a businessman from the Netherlands, Jorrit Faassen, who was among the leaders of Gazprombank. Arab media reported that the wedding took place in Marrakesh (Morocco), in complete secrecy. The entire territory of the five-star hotel Le Mamounia was rented for the newlyweds and guests.
Hotel Le Mamounia
After the wedding, the newlyweds moved to the Netherlands, where Faassen purchased luxury real estate in the town of Vorschoten, not far from The Hague.
In July 2014, when a Malayan Boeing was shot down in the Donbass and killed 298 people (192 of them were Dutch nationals), the mayor of the Dutch city of Hilversum, Pieter Broertes, said on local radio that Putin’s daughter should be deported from the Netherlands. Of course, no one forcibly expelled Maria from the country, but soon after this local newspapers wrote that Putin’s daughter had left the country. Where exactly she is now is unknown.
In 2021, she was shown in a report by the Rossiya-1 TV channel, without mentioning that she was Putin’s daughter.
Interview with Maria Vorontsova on the Doctor TV channel
Maria in a report from Rossiya-1
Ekaterina Tikhonova
Putin's youngest daughter Ekaterina was born on August 31, 1986 in Dresden. Like her older sister, she studied at the German school “Peterschule”, after graduation she entered the Oriental Faculty of St. Petersburg State University, specializing in the study of Asian languages, after which she moved to Moscow State University. Like her older sister, none of the students had ever seen Ekaterina in classes at the university. One of the students, who studied in the same group where Ekaterina was enrolled, told reporters:
“Putina had an individual plan, and the teachers, they told us, went to see her themselves. Do you imagine Katerina Putin, when handing over some current subject, making her way through the crowd in front of the audience? It’s easier to invite a teacher than to ensure her safety.”
Ekaterina Tikhonova, Putin's youngest daughter.
December 2021 In February 2013, Ekaterina married Kirill Shamalov, deputy chairman of the board of the petrochemical company Sibur and owner of 21% of its shares. Ekaterina’s husband is the son of Nikolai Shamalov, co-owner of Rossiya Bank and Putin’s friend from the Ozero cooperative.
As of 2015, according to Reuters, the value of corporate holdings owned by Ekaterina Tikhonova and her husband was estimated at two billion dollars. Tikhonova herself heads the Innopraktika foundation. These data refute Vladimir Putin's statements that his daughters are not involved in any business.
In addition, Ekaterina Tikhonova is known as an athlete. She has repeatedly participated in the Russian and European championships in acrobatic rock and roll. Videos of her performances can be easily found on the Internet.
Video of Ekaterina Tikhonova's speech
At the beginning of 2021, Ekaterina divorced Shamalov. The reason for the divorce remains unknown, as does whether she remarried after that.
Kirill Shamalov - ex-husband of Ekaterina Tikhonova
It is interesting that Putin himself has not yet confirmed or denied that Maria Vorontsova-Faassen and Ekaterina Tikhonova are his daughters. In 2021, a BBC journalist asked him this question:
“Four years ago, when my colleagues asked you about your relationship with your youngest daughter Katerina Tikhonova, you said, quote, that your children are not involved in business, politics and generally do not interfere anywhere. But since then the situation has at least changed. <…> I have a question, please tell me, when will you admit that they are your children, and when will they become public, open to society, like the children of other world leaders?”
Video of the question and answer
Putin avoided a direct answer to the question, starting to talk not about his daughters, but about the benefits of Innopraktika’s activities. However, there is no doubt that over time there will be much fewer blank spots in the biographies of the president’s daughters.
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Maria Putina
One of the most popular speculations online about Putin's children is that they were both born in Germany. This is wrong. Only Katya was born in the GDR, Masha Putina was born in 1985 in Leningrad. The girl studied at an elite gymnasium, where German was taught in depth. The educational institution was private and had the loud name “Peterschule”. Young Maria also studied at a school at the German embassy in Moscow. The students of this school communicated with teachers and among themselves only using German. Information that Maria Putina changed schools was provided by her former classmate, who knew who the father of the new girl in the class was. According to him, almost everyone in the educational institution was proud not so much of their academic success, but rather boasted about their rich parents. The guy said that Masha was not like that. At some point, the girl switched to home schooling, supposedly for safety, and over time, her studies began to be somewhat worse for her.
Daughter of Russian President Maria Putina
Looking ahead, we note that both daughters of Vladimir Vladimirovich studied at St. Petersburg State University. Masha chose the Faculty of Biology and Soil Science. This period in the biography of Putin’s eldest daughter is fraught with even more interesting facts. Classmates said that the girl never showed up to class during the entire period of study. Only from the words of the teachers did the journalists manage to find out that they studied with Putina at home. It is not difficult to guess the reasons for this measure, remembering where Maria’s father worked at that time.
The most interesting question for the masses. Who did the daughter of an influential politician choose as her life partner, and does she really have nothing to do with business, as the president said? Information about Maria's marriage was received from foreign journalists. De Telegraaf notes that Putin's daughter became the wife of one of the major businessmen from Holland named Jorrit Jooste Faassen. The young man was from a family of artists and trained as an architect, and later moved to Russia, where he managed to succeed and achieve an enviable career growth. Faassen held the position of chief specialist in suburban real estate management in, and later became vice president of Stroytransgaz, a subsidiary. Journalists spoke with employees of companies where the chosen one of Putin’s daughter worked. The young man was described as “a good friend of the Putins” and emphasized that despite the fact that this topic was carefully hidden, Faassen’s relationship with Maria Putina was discussed at every turn.
A rather interesting fact happened in November 2010. Jorrit Faassen was beaten by the security guards of major banker Matvey Urin. There was an immediate reaction from law enforcement agencies: the entrepreneur himself was accused of fraud, as a result of which he received 7.5 years in prison, and several of the financial organizations owned by Urin were deprived of their licenses by order of the Central Bank. Charges were brought against the driver, as well as six security officers of the businessman. They were accused of hooliganism and damage to other people's property, and the beatings they inflicted were also witnessed. I would like to believe that law enforcement agencies will someday act as quickly, not only when it comes to those close to major politicians, but this situation confirms Faassen’s connections with the family of Prime Minister (at that time) Vladimir Putin.
What is Maria Putina herself doing now? According to some information, Maria Faassen is currently working in the field of biomedicine, and more specifically, studying the features of the human endocrine system. The girl is a co-author of five scientific papers, which were completed over the course of two years. Information about the scientific activities of Putin’s daughter is publicly available on the website of the Truth service, which keeps records of the activities of Moscow State University employees in the field of science.
One of the popular rumors was that Maria Putina died in a car accident in Europe. It was established that the Audi car that was traveling at a speed of 160 km/h and literally killed all the passengers belonged to Jorrit Faassen. This information is not true.
Daughters of Vladimir Putin – Maria and Ekaterina
It is known that Vladimir Vladimirovich has two daughters from his first marriage. The eldest was named Maria, and the youngest - Catherine. Maria was born in 1985, and Ekaterina was born a year after the birth of her sister, in 1986. The president's daughters were named after their paternal and maternal grandmothers. The personality of the father of his daughters is so popular that photographs of the president both during work and during leisure appear in the press with enviable regularity, but Vladimir Putin’s daughters are not public figures. Photos of girls on the Internet are not so easy to find.
Daughter Maria
Surprisingly, the eldest daughter of the head of state changed her last name four times, this was done in order to avoid publicity. Media representatives use two names: Faassen and Vorontsova. According to data from archival documentation, Maria was a student at the Faculty of Fundamental Medicine of Moscow State University. Maria studied at Moscow State University from 2006 to 2011, and very rarely appeared in classes; the girl preferred individual training.
After completing her studies at the university, Maria became a graduate student at the Endocrinology Research Center and received a PhD degree; she is a co-author of many popular works. It is still unknown how exactly Maria met her future husband Jorrit Faassen. Jorrit is a Dutch entrepreneur and high-ranking official. Now Maria and her Dutch husband live in the south of Holland in the city of Vorschoten, the couple is raising a son who has the status of an EU citizen.
Ekaterina Tikhonova - youngest daughter
Ekaterina was born on August 31, 1986. Now she is known under the name Tikhonov. Ekaterina is a member of the Academic Council of Moscow State University and the head of the Innopraktika Foundation. For more than four years, Vladimir Vladimirovich’s daughter has been developing innovative concepts in mathematics and mechanics. Ekaterina also holds the position of vice-president of the acrobatic rock and roll federation, and performs with the famous dancer Ivan Klimov.
According to information from Reuters, the youngest daughter of the head of state successfully married one of the directors of the Sibur petrochemical corporation, Kirill Shamalov. It is known that Kirill Shamalov is the owner of a fortune, which, according to various sources, is estimated from 800 million to 2 billion dollars. It is unknown where exactly Ekaterina and Kirill live, but there are speculations that the couple lives in the capital of the Russian Federation, because the girl is engaged in scientific activities in Moscow. Ekaterina looks up to her famous father in almost everything, because she understands perfectly how Vladimir Vladimirovich became what everyone knows him to be now.
Katerina Putina
She was born in 1986 on the territory of the German Democratic Republic. She studied at the same gymnasium as Masha - “Peterschule”, where she studied German in depth, and later changed schools with her older sister: both girls studied at the German school named after. Haasa at the German Embassy. The teachers said that the girl had been interested in Eastern culture since childhood and even studied Chinese. It is not surprising that after graduating from school, the girl continued to be interested in Eastern countries and even studied the history of Japan at St. Petersburg State University. Journalists talked with the dean of the faculty Ivan Steblin-Kamensky. The man says that there was no increased attention to Katerina, and most students did not even suspect whose daughter was taking the next exam with them. As for the security, the teachers assumed that the politician’s daughter could have appeared at the university accompanied by hidden security, but no one noticed the obvious presence of security forces. Katerina, like Masha, was home-schooled, so students never saw her except during exams.
Daughter of the President of the Russian Federation Katerina Putina
In 2010, it became known that the girl married a Korean. Her chosen one was the son of an employee of the South Korean embassy in the Russian Federation. His father confirmed this information. The history of this couple’s relationship is quite interesting: there is an opinion that Katerina and Yong Jong-Gu Jr. have known each other since 1997, and they met at an event at a Moscow international school. There was also information that the girl came to Korea to visit her chosen one, and later most people were sure that the couple had gone to the USA together and the wedding would take place there. This story ended quite interestingly: the prospective groom stated that he and Katerina have exclusively friendly relations and believes that it is too early for him to get married. More details about Katerina Putina’s personal life are not known, as there is information that the girl changed her last name in order to distance herself from attention to her person.
The media regularly touch on the topic of Vladimir Vladimirovich’s relatives. In 2015, it became known that a certain Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova is the head of a foundation participating in the development of scientific projects at Moscow State University. Journalists wrote that Vladimir Putin personally instructed his daughter to supervise the work of the project, since he could not find a more suitable candidate than her. It's funny that after some time the person who published this information wrote a refutation.
If you believe the data posted on the Moscow State University portal, Katerina Tikhonova is really an employee of this mathematics department of this university. Tikhonova co-authored several scientific papers with colleagues from Moscow State University, and she is also credited with participating in writing materials for students. At the same time, Katerina holds the position of head of the National Intellectual Development Foundation, which is sponsored by Moscow State University. Tikhonova also oversees a project to support young scientists. There is information that among Katerina’s colleagues and advisers at Moscow State University there are at least five people close to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, and two of them are the president’s former colleagues in the KGB, who have known Katerina since infancy.
Putin's daughter Katerina and former son-in-law of the Russian President Kirill Shamalov
Today, Katerina Putina, according to confirmed information, is considered Tikhonova, so it would be wrong to believe that an unsuccessful romance with a Korean will end the interesting details of the girl’s personal life. In 2015, Katerina identified herself as the wife of Kirill Shamalov. It's funny that this young man's father is a very old friend of Vladimir Putin. Also, during a trip to Switzerland, Katerina repeatedly introduced herself to Shamalova, after which many journalistic investigations were carried out, which confirmed the fact of the marriage of Kirill and Katerina.
Not much is known about the chosen one of one of Putin’s daughters. He worked for Gazprom and Gazprombank, and at the age of just 26 he took the position of vice president for business support in the gas processing and oil production sector. Shamalov owns 21.3% of the shares of the oil refining company SIBUR, and he received 17 of them from Gennady Timchenko, who is known for his ties to Putin. By the way, Kirill’s father is an equally influential person, which is simply unreasonable to argue about. Nikolai Shamalov is a co-owner of one of the country’s banks, which is called “Russia”. In the domestic Forbes ranking, Nikolai Shalamov was ranked 198th in 2011. The bank owned by Shamalov is considered a personal bank for high-ranking officials and major entrepreneurs in our country.
In many investigations, journalists could not forget to mention the condition of Katerina Tikhonova, who is the daughter of the President of Russia. An approximate estimate speaks of $2 billion, which may be joint assets with Kirill Shamalov. The property of Tikhonova’s husband is also a rather immodest proof of the fortune of this family. Kirill owns a villa in France, which he bought from the same Timchenko, who has quite warm relations with Putin to this day. From the materials of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, you can also learn that this property is not limited to the financial status of the Shamalov and Tikhonova families.
Ekaterina Putina
© Photo by Paweł Dudzik Photography. Presumably Ekaterina Tikhonova (Putina)
Getting an education
The life of Ekaterina, Putin’s second daughter, is watched as closely as the life of her sister.
The heiress to the Russian President was born in 1986. She was born on the last day of summer, August 31st. At this time, the girl’s parents lived in the German Democratic Republic. Katya received her education at the private educational institution “Petershule”, which was located in the Northern capital. When the Putins began to live in Moscow, the “German School named after Haas” became the institution where Katya received her education. The school operated on the territory of the German embassy. Since 2000, teachers came to the girl’s home for educational lessons. The FreeLance Bureau website stated that in the late 90s, the annual tuition fee for one student in a German school was more than 7,000 German marks per child.
According to the memoirs of Vera Gurevich, who taught Vladimir Vladimirovich, Katya was a smart student. When Gurevich once came to visit the Putins, the girl said that she was interested in the People's Republic of China. Even then, the girl was studying Chinese.
In 2005, at St. Petersburg University, Ekaterina studied the history of Eastern states. The girl chose the specialty that appealed to her most - “History of Japan.”
Ivan Steblin-Kamensky, who worked as the dean of the faculty of the University of St. Petersburg, told journalists of the newspaper “Life” about how Putin’s daughters studied at the university. According to him, no one observed any excitement around the famous girls. The teachers remembered Katerina as an ordinary student, whose behavior was no different from her peers. If the heirs of the Russian president were guarded, then no one saw these people, or they behaved unnoticed. Future students had no idea that the daughters of the first person of Russia were entering the university with them. The university teachers knew that Catherine was interested in the Chinese language, and she studied it herself. They were sure that the girl would study the history of China, but she changed her mind and chose the history of Japan.
In 2006, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported that when Katerina Putina became a student at the University of St. Petersburg, the oriental faculty “moved.” It began to be located in a new premises, on Vasilyevsky Island. These instructions, in connection with the change in the location of one of the faculties, were given by Valentina Matvienko, the governor of the Northern capital. Katya’s classmates recalled that the Faculty of Oriental Studies is chosen by enthusiastic boys and girls who like the history of the East. They did not see Putin, since the girl studied according to an individual plan. According to the teachers, they themselves went to Katerina.
"Marriage to a Korean citizen"
Media representatives are closely monitoring how Putin’s daughters arrange their personal lives.
In the fall of 2010, information about the future marriage of Katerina Putina appeared in the Korea JoongAng Daily. The girl's chosen one was a former employee of the South Korean embassy in the Russian Federation. Information about the upcoming wedding was confirmed by Yong Jong-Gu, commander of the Korean Navy, father of the groom. The publication talked about the details of the novel. Allegedly, Katerina met Yen Jr. in 1997. The young people met in Moscow when there was a party at an international school. Katerina continued to see her lover even after his father stopped working in Moscow. In 2002, Korea was chosen as the country to host the World Football Championship. The girl visited her chosen one in Korea. The newspaper wrote that the lovers were studying in America and were going to announce their engagement soon.
The press secretary of the head of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, denied publications about an imminent wedding. The potential groom himself made a statement to The Chosun Ilbo newspaper. He said that he had simply known Ekaterina Putina for more than 10 years. But his plans did not include marrying a girl. Yong admitted that it was too early for him to think about starting a family at the age of 26. The marriage rumors are not true.
Work by Ekaterina Tikhonova
At the beginning of 2015, the media wrote on the pages of publications about the activities of the daughter of the President of the Russian Federation. The National Intellectual Development Foundation now has a director in the person of Katerina Tikhonova. Foundation employees are developing a “scientific and technological valley” project under the auspices of Moscow State University.
Oleg Kashin, a press representative, said that in the summer of 2021 he learned about the creation of a “new Skolkovo” on Vorobyovy Gory. Allegedly, Putin instructed his daughter to manage the project (not nominally), since he could not find another candidate. There were rumors that the President of the Russian Federation had no doubts about his daughter’s abilities, and the girl would be able to cope with her duties “excellently.”
Andrei Akimov, one of the leaders of Gazprombank, told Reuters reporters that Katerina Tikhonova is the daughter of the Russian president.
Akimov is related to the Innopraktika project, operating at Moscow State University. The fund is managed by Ekaterina. Akimov admitted that he knew about the management of this fund by the heiress of the head of state. But he finances the projects of Moscow State University researchers, despite his involvement in the president’s family. “Innopraktiki” is a program that is consistent with the bank’s development plans, and Gazprom strives to support scientific progress. Akimov reported this to media representatives.
When readers read the article “Putin’s Daughters and the Second Generation Elite in Russia,” many questions arose. Andrei Akimov made a statement. Gazprom journalists, on his behalf, stated that Akimov was not involved in Reuters publications. But two officials in high-ranking circles confirmed to journalists that Tikhonova is the daughter of the head of the Russian Federation.
As stated on the MSU Internet site, Katerina Tikhonova is now on the university staff. She realizes her talent at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics. The name of the president's daughter is listed as the author of a math textbook.
Tikhonova took part in 6 scientific works. One of them talks about studies of the effect of zero gravity on the human body. Tikhonova wrote the “lion’s share” of articles together with Viktor Sadovnichy. He works at Moscow University, as rector.
Tikhonova headed the National Intellectual Development Foundation, whose activities are not related to commerce. The daughter of the Russian President runs the Center for National Intellectual Reserve (CNIR). These two institutions are related to the capital's university. At Moscow State University, employees are working on the Innopraktika project. Its mission is to provide support to young scientists engaged in scientific discoveries. This project is under the patronage of Putin’s daughter.
The people who are members of the FNIR board of trustees are representatives of such well-known companies as Transneft, Rosatom, RDIF, Rostec, SIBUR, Gazprombank. On the Internet site of the CNIR it is said about the cooperation of Innopraktika with Rosneft, Rostec, Russian Direct Investment Fund, Gazprombank and SIBUR.
Reuters reports that 5 people work at Moscow State University together with Tikhonova, who are considered to be members of the Russian president’s inner circle. Among them are two former KGB officers who remember Katya as a little girl. The board of trustees of Innopraktika includes Sergei Chemezov, general director, and Nikolai Tokarev, head of Transneft. These two leaders worked together with Putin in the KGB, and lived not far from him in Dresden.
Employees of two foundations (“National Intellectual Development” and “Center for National Intellectual Reserve”) are engaged in the “scientific and technological valley” project. The results of the project were to be published by the end of 2021 in the capital. It was planned to expand the territory of Moscow State University. The university would occupy additional territory, which would increase by 240 hectares. Part of the university was supposed to be located in one of the respectable areas, at the intersection of Vernadsky and Michurinsky avenues.
It was planned to build buildings for student education and dormitories. In addition, it was possible to build 550 thousand square meters. housing. As RBC reported, it is planned to allocate $1.7 billion for the implementation of the entire project.
Moscow State University Rector Viktor Sadovnichev said that the total cost of the project is 110 billion rubles. When the “scientific and technological valley” was presented, the costs were approximately announced in the region of 149.9 billion rubles (at 2014 prices). Of this amount, the municipal budget was supposed to allocate 2.6% of the funds (3.9 billion rubles). The rest is investment funds.
Katerina Tikhonova's hobbies include acrobatic rock and roll. She is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of FARR (Federation of Rock and Roll).
Sponsorship was provided by Novatek, Gazprombank, and SIBUR.
Since the spring of 2014, Tikhonova began to be listed among the leaders of the World Rock and Roll Confederation. She is involved in marketing and development.
Marriage
Dmitry Dukhanin © Photo Kommersant In the photo Kirill Shamalov According to Reuters, in 2015, Putin’s daughter, when talking with media representatives, admitted that she was married to Kirill Shamalov.
Then the presidential daughter was 29 years old. The young man’s father, Nikolai Shamalov, had long been friends with the Russian president. Nikolay is a shareholder of the Rossiya banking institution. This bank is on the EU sanctions list, and the bank is called the “personal bank of the Russian elite.”
As RBC reported, at the beginning of 2015, Katerina Tikhonova was seen in Switzerland, at the “Russian session” of the Davos Forum. The president's daughter appeared there with Kirill Shamalov. When Tikhonova was in Switzerland, she told everyone that she was Shamalov’s wife. This was reported by Reuters.
At the beginning of 2015, Bloomberg mentioned that Katerina started a family with Kirill Shamalov.
As stated in official sources, Shamalov worked for Gazprom, Rosoboronexport, Gazprombank and the Russian government. In 2008, Shamalov celebrated his 26th birthday. He received a leadership position at SIBUR. The company is engaged in gas and oil refining. From 2012 to 2015, Shamalov worked as one of the managers of SIBUR, owned 21.3% of the shares (17% of the shares were given to him by Gennady Timchenko, Putin’s close associate). SIBUR is one of the main sponsors of the All-Russian Federation of Acrobatic Rock and Roll. This federation was headed by Putin's daughter, Ekaterina. In the spring of 2015, information appeared that Shamalov had resigned as deputy chairman of SIBUR. But he remained on the board of directors. He became one of the founders, whose activity is investing in IT. Denis Nikienko (one of the directors of SIBUR) and Sergey Kotlyarenko helped Shamalov in creating the company.
Kommersant reported that K. Shamalov’s plans include developing engineering services and processing polymer materials.
Vedomosti wrote that in the fall of 2014 she became the owner of Eti Service. This company is part of the AT Consulting group, whose scope of activities includes the commissioning and maintenance of information systems and the provision of other IT services. AT Consulting cooperates with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Energy, Rosreestr, the Ministry of Culture, the Treasury, Sberbank, and other clients.
Nikolai Shamalov, Kirill’s father, became one of the owners of Rossiya Bank in 2004. Together with him, the bank is led by Dmitry Gorelov and Yuri Kovalchuk. Nikolai Shamalov, according to the domestic Forbes rating, was in 198th place. Shamalov, together with Kovalchuk, headed the cooperative of summer residents “Ozero”. Among the shareholders were Vladimir Yakunin, (former head of Russian Railways), and the Russian president.
Bank Rossiya, owned by Kovalchuk and Shamalov, was named by the European Union as a banking institution associated with corruption.
Sergei Kolesnikov, one of the leaders of the Petromed holding, said that Shamalov was personally entrusted with overseeing the project to build a “presidential palace” near Gelendzhik.
When the construction of the presidential palace became known to the media, Alexander Ponomarenko (one of the ex-co-owners of the Novorossiysk sea trade port) bought two open joint-stock companies from Shamalov and two businessmen. They are called "Idokopas" and "Azure Berry". These companies owned a facility that was unfinished and located on Cape Idokopas.
About finances
Reuters wrote that financial analysts calculated the fortune of the daughter of the President of the Russian Federation and her husband. They may own assets totaling $2 billion. Most of the capital is shares of the SIBUR company, which is considered one of the largest Russian petrochemical holdings. Shamalov Jr. owns a villa located in the Bay of Escay, in France, Biarritz. The house, 4 floors high, (worth $4 million), was sold to Katerina’s husband by Gennady Timchenko.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation reported that the mansion in Biarritz previously belonged to and was the property of the Timchenko spouses. Since the fall of 2012, Kirill Shamalov became the head of two and Altamira.
Journalists continue to observe how Putin’s daughters live today.
Did Putin deliberately hide the truth about his children?
Quite interesting facts from the biography of Vladimir Vladimirovich’s daughters were presented above. If some of them are true, it is no wonder why the politician is reluctant to talk about family. Is the secrecy surrounding the family just the intricacies of a politician's job? Does he want to tell people more about himself, but simply doesn’t have the opportunity?
In any case, it is worth remembering that you should not rashly believe all the information from the network, so the personal life of a politician like Vladimir Putin will remain in the shadows until the President of the Russian Federation himself wants to share details from his biography.
