Putin grants France's Depardieu Russian citizenship

The decision appears to give Depardieu — a frequent guest of the Moscow celebrity circuit who nonetheless never asked for a Russian passport — the right to pay the 13-percent tax levied in Russia on everyone from billionaires to the poor.

“Vladimir Putin has signed a decree granting Russian citizenship to France's Gerard Depardieu,” the Kremlin said in a brief statement describing the seemingly unprecedented decision.

The decree cited an article of the 1993 constitution extending presidents the right to issue citizenship or to grant political asylum.

But the announcement looked more like a jab at the West by Putin — keen to show off Russia's more business-friendly approach to taxes — than an actual effort to lure one of the world's biggest celebrities to Moscow.

Depardieu said on Sunday that a decision by France's highest court to strike down the proposed rate on millionaires changed nothing in his highly publicized and much debated decision to move out of France.

The French government has vowed to push ahead with the tax — applicable to anyone who makes more than one million euros (US$1.3 million) a year — and propose a new measure that would conform with the constitution.

Putin at his end-of-year press conference in December said he was ready to offer the 64-year-old cinema veteran a Russian passport to resolve the row.

His comments initially generated snickers from reporters, but the Russian strongman quickly made clear that he was entirely serious.

“If Gerard really wants to have a residency permit in Russia or a Russian passport, we can consider this issue resolved positively,” Putin said at the time.

The 60-year-old Russian leader referred to Depardieu both as a successful businessman and a friend who loved his country and would therefore be unlikely to leave France for good.

Depardieu had mentioned moving to Belgium — home of a 50-percent millionaires' tax — and has purchased a new home near the French border for the specific purpose of avoiding the higher rate.

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