Putin Gives Depardieu Hug and Passport

President Vladmir Putin welcomes French actor Gerard Depardieu as he becomes a Russian citizen following objections to a tax plan for the rich in his own country. Lindsey Parietti reports.

Published

5 months ago

Categories

Entertainment, World

Topics

Celebrity, Europe

People

Lindsey Parietti, Francois Hollande, Gerard Depardieu, Vladmir Putin

Places

France, Russia

Transcript

President Vladmir Putin offers a warm greeting to a new high-profile Russian citizen. The Russian leader has granted citizenship to French actor Gerard Depardieu following a tax dispute in his home country. Depardieu objects to socialist president Francois Hollande's plan to impose a 75 percent tax rate on euro millionaires. The actor is popular in Russia and has appeared in ad campaigns there. After offering him a Russian passport last month, Putin hosted the actor over the weekend at the Black Sea resort of Sochi where the president was spending part of the holidays. Russia has a flat-rate income tax of 13 percent.