Russia’s new prime minister has become mired in corruption allegations less than a day into the job after failing to explain how he has built up a considerable property fortune.
Vladlena, the wife of Mikhail Mishustin, an obscure tax official picked by Vladimir Putin to replace Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister, declared an income of £9.9m last year, despite not appearing to own a business or have a job.
The couple are also believed to own a property in Moscow’s fashionable Rublyovka suburb and a central Moscow apartment, together worth £7.4m. They are listed as the owners from 2001 to 2005, although the owner is now listed simply as “Russian Federation”. According to his 2018 tax returns, neither Mishustin nor his wife own any property.
Mishustin headed up Russia’s property management agency and special economic zones before leaving government in 2008 to become president of UFG Asset Management, a leading Russian fund. He returned to government two years later.
