For decades, the lives of Vladimir Putin's two daughters from their first marriage have been a mystery. Now, the sanctions imposed on them and their veiled businesses have made them the center of attention.
The measures against Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, whom Putin does not publicly recognize as his daughters, are largely symbolic, since it is not clear whether they have significant assets outside Russia.
In 2011, Putin said in an interview on state television that his daughters were leading “normal lives.” “They are not involved in politics or business, thank God,” he told Channel One at the time. That seems to have changed in the following years, as both daughters have held positions in companies while in academia.
Vorontsova, 36 years old, is an endocrinologist. She is the co-owner of a medical company called Nomeko, which specializes in high-tech diagnostics and treatments.
Tikhonova, 35, Putin's youngest daughter, was linked to a $1.6 billion project to develop a science center and startup incubator close to Moscow State University. He also directed the artificial intelligence center of an elite school and the National Intellectual Development Fund. Both are managed by the Innopraktika Foundation, which has Putin's associates such as Rosneft's executive director Igor Sechin and Gazprombank head Andrei Akimov as board trustees.
Tikhonova's ex-husband, Kirill Shamalov, made a fortune by investing in the petrochemical giant Sibur Holding, with the help of a loan from a state-controlled bank. He later sold the shares after his divorce.
Reuters commented in a note that at the wedding “there were guards behind every corner, (they) didn't let anyone near the celebration,” said a member of the resort's staff, which has a luxurious spa complex. “But we knew it was Kirill and Katerina, Putin's daughter, celebrating the marriage.”
Putin, who strictly protects his private life, has said very little publicly about his daughters with his ex-wife Lyudmila. During the more than two decades he has been in power, Putin has given very little information about where they live, some of their intellectual interests such as biology and Japanese culture, and that they speak several languages.
The daughters have given interviews to the media, but they never identified themselves as Putin's daughters. They have rarely appeared on camera as adults, although Tikhonova was seen participating in an acrobatic rock and roll competition in Switzerland in 2013 and in Poland in 2014.
Lyudmila, a former flight attendant, has so far escaped the sanctions that have affected her ex-husband's allies, companies linked to them and their families.
© Bloomberg
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