Kremlin hits out at ‘Putinophobia’ of Panama Papers

The Kremlin has rubbished reports that close friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin hid around $2 billion in offshore accounts in Panama.

“Such ‘leaks’, in our view, are meant to target audiences overseas,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday. “It is also clear that the degree of Putinophobia has reached a point where to speak well about Russia, or about some of its actions and successes is impossible. One needs to speak about Russia in negative terms, the more the better, and when there’s nothing to say, you need to make things up. This is obvious to us.”

He said that the bulk of the vast trove of data, that was revealed on Sunday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and German paper Sueddeutsche Zeitung has nothing to do with Putin.

“There is no [profound] information concerning the president – just some insinuations, speculations, reflections that do not require a response,” he said. “As for the main body, it does not concern us, it has no relation to the president whatsoever.

“While Putin does not appear anywhere backed by any facts, it is obvious to us that the main target behind such ‘leaks’ has been and still is our president, especially in the context of the upcoming parliamentary and, taking the long-term perspective, the presidential election in two years’ time.”

The leaked data of around 11 million files, dubbed the ‘Panama Papers’ shows how Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca helped its clients launder money, avoid tax and dodge sanctions.

Reports following the leaks indicated a suspected billion-dollar money-laundering ring that was run by the Russian bank Rossiya and involved close associates of Putin.

Money has been channeled through offshore companies, two of which were officially owned by one of Putin’s closest friends, concert cellist Sergei Roldugin.

Roldugin has known Putin since they were teenagers and is godfather to the president’s daughter Maria.

On paper, Roldugin personally made hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from suspicious deals. However, documents from his companies state that: “The company is a corporate screen established principally to protect the identity and confidentiality of the ultimate beneficial owner of the company”.