Navalny's team uncovers secrets of Putin's Black Sea palace renovation

In January 2021, Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) published a documentary titled "A Palace for Putin: The History of the Biggest Bribe."

The video material indicates that Vladimir Putin owns an estate near Gelendzhik in southern Russia, which was attributed to businessman Alexander Ponomarenko. According to FBK, the estate cost 100 billion rubles (about £13 billion).

The Russian president publicly denied owning the property. Russian propaganda published reports showing the palace's bare walls. Shortly afterwards, billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, a friend of Vladimir Putin, announced himself as the owner of the palace, stating that in two years, he would turn it into an aparthotel.

As reported by the meduza.io portal, the palace renovation was completed in February-March 2023, and it does not serve as a hotel. Vladimir Putin is still said to be the actual owner.

It was also revealed that FBK obtained four hours of video material recorded by a hidden camera inside the palace in Gelendzhik. The investigators call the cameraman who filmed the video "our brave agent".

A hidden camera in Putin's palace! We managed to get video material from the inside of Putin's palace in Gelendzhik, which has now been fully completed. And now we will see everything with our own eyes - ornamental moldings, crystal chandeliers, a personal chapel, and of course an aqua disco - written in the description of the film 'Hidden films from Putin's palace. Exposing lies and showing royal interiors', which was published on Monday, May 6th on YouTube.

The publication showed the working documentation of the construction company Velesstroy, responsible for rebuilding the palace. Journalists reviewed the new floor plans of the palace and concluded that the builders practically did not change anything in the design of the rooms, only renaming them. Bedrooms began to be called apartments, the music room and reading room became a lobby, and the dining room was turned into a restaurant.

The hidden recordings from the palace captured, among other things, the president's pool, several types of showers, massage rooms, a Turkish bath, a steam room, cryo sauna, other spa areas, a gym, and even its theatre.

As the authors of the investigation note, many changes were introduced in the former salon and reading room, now referred to as the hall. Previously, romantic frescoes on neutral topics were hanging on the walls of the reading room; now, they are replaced by replicas of paintings depicting historical battles, including the Battle of Borodino.

In the former music room are paintings on maritime themes and portraits of admirals Pavel Nakhimov, Fyodor Ushakov, and Ivan Kruzenshtern.

In the previous plan of "Putin's Palace," there was a game room. Now, a chapel has been erected in its place. The room is quite depressing. It has a marble floor with a pattern, dark wallpaper, and walls around the perimeter decorated with decorative metal panels with several crosses—describes FBK.

In the middle of the chapel, there is a pulpit, and opposite it, a large iconostasis, where Jesus Christ is depicted in the middle, the Mother of God on the right, and St. Prince Vladimir on the left. The chapel also contains stasidia, which are seats used during long services.

Another room of "Putin's palace", which many were interested in in the first investigation by FBK, was a bar with hookahs and strippers. Now it is called a relaxation area. - In essence and purpose, nothing has changed - they simply replaced the cold floor with carpet, but retained the arches around the perimeter. There are also semi-circular sofas - say the authors of the material.

On the floor, there are 11 bedrooms. The private areas for the host and his guests occupy an area of about 275 square meters. They are equipped with statues, busts, and expensive furniture from Western companies.

As the authors of the investigation found out, construction materials for the palace were purchased from German Knauf, Finnish Tikkurila, and French Ananbo. The palace features plumbing fixtures from German companies Jorger, Tece, Emco, and Hansgrohe, Italian Gessi and Vismara Vetro, Swiss Geberit and Laufen, and Japanese Omoikiri.

Lamps come from the Italian Flos, Spanish Mantra and Aromas del Campo, Belgian Modular, and Chinese Osram. Luxury chandeliers - French brand Baguès and Baccarat, British Vaughan, Italian Arizz, Estro&Luminara, and Il Paralume Marinai.

Luxury furniture - from Italian brands Zanaboni, Scappini & C, Salda, Provasi, Roberto Giovannini, OAK, Mobili Di Castello, Angelo Cappellini, Andrea Fanfani, and Medea.

FBK claims that state companies still fund the construction and maintenance of the palace under the guise of non-existent services. In this way, two structures of the company Transneft, led by Putin's friend Nikolai Tokarev—Transneft-Service and Transneft-Terminal—pay 25 million rubles and 30 million rubles monthly for renting certain non-residential premises in the palace. They spend about 660 million rubles (£6.9 million) annually.