Gerard Depardieu could be moving from his home country of France to Russia. The "Life of Pi"
actor, who publicly vows to give up his French citizenship in protest
over the country's tax hike on the rich, has been granted Russian
citizenship by President Vladimir Putin.
"In accordance with Article 89(a) of the Constitution of the Russian
Federation, the President ordered to satisfy an application for
citizenship of the Russian Federation by Gerard Xavier Depardieu, who
was born in 1948 in France," the Kremlin says in a statement.
The "Asterix & Obelix" actor and his camp haven't said a word to
confirm the news, but he did say that he would consider fleeing to
Russia to escape France's high taxes. "Putin has already sent me a
passport," he jokingly said as quoted by French daily Le Monde in
December.
While Gerard's camp is reluctant to offer any comment, a Kremlin rep
says the actor indeed has applied for citizenship after Putin said last
month that the actor would be welcomed in the country. "The citizenship
could not have been granted to him without (such an) appeal," the rep
utters.
"I'm sure the French authorities did not want to offend Mr Depardieu,"
the Russian President said in a news conference. "But if Gerard really
wants to have either a residency permit in Russia or a Russian passport,
we will assume that this matter is settled and settled positively."
Russia, however, is not the only country Gerard considers as his
destination if he really decides to quit his homeland. The 64-year-old
star once said he's also thinking about living in Belgium where he had
bought a house across the border, or moving to Montenegro where he has a
business.
There's no word whether Gerard will be settling in Russia now that the
President has bestowed Russian citizenship on him, but the Kremlin
spokesperson says that it's up to the actor and moving to the country
was "absolutely not mandatory."
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