SOOOOOO bloody wealthy! But NOT PAP, NOT SGP

[csjcsjcsj]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2009-06/30/content_11623505.htm

俄富豪显摆财富惹恼普京
2009年06月30日 07:32:46 　来源：新华网
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俄罗斯亿万富豪捷尔曼·伊斯梅洛夫上月在土耳其为自己投资１５亿美元建成的豪华酒店举办开业典礼，砸重金、请名流，以显示酒店奢华风格。

不过，伊斯梅洛夫似乎很快发现自己的行为不合时宜。

英国《星期日电讯报》２８日报道，在俄罗斯饱受金融危机冲击之时，伊斯梅洛夫把大笔金钱撒在国外的做法让总理弗拉基米尔·普京大为光火。本月，与伊斯梅洛夫关系密切的莫斯科市长承诺，将关闭作为伊斯梅洛夫重要财富来源的切尔基佐夫市场。

极尽奢华

伊斯梅洛夫在土耳其濒临地中海的安塔利亚投资１５亿美元，修建以他父亲名字命名的豪华酒店“马尔丹宫殿”。上月２３日，伊斯梅洛夫豪掷数千万美元举办开业庆典。

据俄《莫斯科时报》报道，这座拥有５６０个房间的酒店本身已经极尽奢华，套房浴室配有镀金边框的镜子，私人沙滩上则铺有专门从埃及进口的总计９０００吨白沙。酒店外配有一个面积１.６万平方米的人工水池，可供１０００人同时游泳，坐小船也需要半小时才能抵达另一边；水池中还隐藏有一个穹顶由绿草铺设的地下水族馆。

为了举办这次开业庆典，伊斯梅洛夫请来了名流帕里斯·希尔顿、沙朗·斯通和理查·基尔等，而请来的歌手玛丽亚·凯丽、汤姆·琼斯等人据称每人出场费近百万美元。

除美酒香槟，伊斯梅洛夫还专门租用私人飞机空运１１０公斤珍贵鱼子酱到典礼现场，供嘉宾享用。

英国《星期日泰晤士报》说，庆典高潮时，伊斯梅洛夫与来宾一齐跳舞，组织方在现场抛洒百元美钞。有媒体估计，宾客“淋”到的“美钞雨”总共用掉６１００万美元。

http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2009-06/30/content_11623505_1.htm

俄富豪显摆财富惹恼普京
2009年06月30日 07:32:46 　来源：新华网
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调查上门

酒店开业几天后，俄总理普京突然在一次内阁会议上质问起切尔基佐夫市场处理情况。

切尔基佐夫市场于２０世纪９０年代初建立，是俄罗斯和独联体国家服装、鞋类等生活用品的批发集散地，由伊斯梅洛夫旗下的阿斯特集团控制，是伊斯梅洛夫财富来源之一。去年９月，俄政府以没有合法通关手续为由没收那里的一批商品，但一直没有对市场采取后续行动。

“应该有把谁送进监狱的结果，但现在哪里有被定罪的人？”俄总理办公室网站援引普京在本月１日会议上的讲话内容说。

接下来便是针对切尔基佐夫市场的一系列政府动作。６月上旬，俄检察院调查委员会宣布对没收商品展开刑事调查，３名海关官员因涉嫌提供违法入关便利遭到逮捕；１４日，俄副总检察长亚历山大·布克斯曼将这一市场称之为滋生腐败之地”，需要清除。

就连亲身参加伊斯梅洛夫酒店开业庆典、与他关系密切的莫斯科市长尤里·卢日科夫也承诺将致力于关闭这一市场。

俄民主政党“亚博卢”主席谢尔盖·米特罗欣认为，政府这个时候对伊斯梅洛夫的市场采取行动“并非巧合”。他向《莫斯科时报》记者暗示，伊斯梅洛夫将大笔金钱花在土耳其而非俄罗斯的决定已经惹恼联邦政府。

“把钱全部花在国外，他的举动并不让人愉快，”米特罗欣说，“这就是为什么政府现在开始调查先前睁一只眼闭一只眼的商业活动。”

自辩清白

现年５２岁的伊斯梅洛夫现有资产６亿美元，在美国《福布斯》杂志俄罗斯富豪榜中排名第６１位。最初，伊斯梅洛夫只是一名小贸易商，凭借从政府廉价租地、高价转租的中介手法，他才逐渐积累起财富。

发现自己可能成为调查目标后，伊斯梅洛夫似乎担忧起来。虽然还没有被明确认定犯下任何违规行为，但他已开始极力辩护自己的清白。

“我拥有这个市场，但不拥有这个市场上交易的商品，”他说，“我只是租出去商铺，我不认为总理普京已经下令对我展开调查。”

让伊斯梅洛夫烦恼的或许不止这一点。俄罗斯新闻社报道，尽管伊斯梅洛夫据传正将财富转移到土耳其，但他的巨额投资并没有让他在当地受到多少欢迎。“马尔丹宫殿”所在的安塔利亚市市长已下令对酒店建设展开调查，理由是酒店设计施工可能存在违规行为。（徐超）

 

[csjcsjcsj]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6591398.ece

Vladimir Putin 'furious' over flaunting oligarch Telman Ismailov


Paris Hilton

Paris Hilton was paid to attend the launch of the £1 billion Mardan Palace Hotel in Turkey
Mark Franchetti, Moscow

To launch his new hotel, Telman Ismailov hired a private jet to fly in 242lb of Beluga caviar and paid Paris Hilton, Sharon Stone and Richard Gere to attend the party.

The sprawling Mardan Palace on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, which boasts 560 rooms and a five-acre pool, cost £1 billion to build. Defying the world financial crisis, Ismailov indulged his taste for gaudy opulence in his celebrations. At one point the Azeri-born mogul danced with guests as they were sprayed with $100 bills, at a reported cost of $61m (£37m).

Less than a month later Ismailov, 52, may have come to regret such ostentation as he faces the apparent wrath of Vladimir Putin. Russia’s prime minister is said to be furious that Ismailov has invested so much abroad and flaunted his riches when Russia has been hard hit by the credit crunch.

A few days after the Mardan Palace opened near Antalya, Putin scolded officials for failing to make arrests after a raid at the Cherkizovsky wholesale market in Moscow, owned by one of Ismailov’s companies.
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The raid netted Russia’s largest haul of contraband – 6,000 containers of allegedly pirated and smuggled goods from China worth £1.2 billion. It took place last September but received little coverage until Ismailov’s party, which also featured the singers Mariah Carey, Seal and Tom Jones for a rumoured fee of £600,000 each.

“A result would be to send people to jail – but where are the convictions?” Putin said during a cabinet meeting a few days later. Prosecutors quickly charged three customs officers with clearing illegal goods.

“The market is a source of corruption, offences and various crimes,” said Russia’s deputy prosecutor. “We need the will and the power to tear out this pest.” Russian state tele-vision claimed that billions of dollars had been laundered at the sprawling complex.

Yuri Luzhkov – the mayor of Moscow and a close friend of Ismailov who attended the Mardan Palace party with his billionaire wife Elena Baturina – promised to close down the market.

Ismailov, who is said to be worried by the prosecutors’ interest, has not been accused of any wrongdoing. He strongly denied any links to the contraband goods.

“I’m the owner of the market but I do not own the goods traded there,” said Ismailov, whose wealth is estimated at nearly £400m. “I only rent out trading space. I do not believe that the persecution against me has been ordered by prime minister Putin.”

The Mardan Palace, named after Ismailov’s father, has a private beach of 8,800 tons of sand imported from Egypt. The swimming pool is large enough for 1,000 swimmers and there are gondolas to ferry guests across.

A Russian businessman who attended the bash said: “Oligarchs were always very unpopular among ordinary people. The timing of Ismailov’s party could hardly have been worse.”

 

[crossbow_sg]

Must be a communist. These days only communist are the richest. Capitalist are bankrupted.

See Gopalan Nair's home state California Arnold lost his pants.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090630/ap_on_re_us/us_california_budget


Calif. lawmakers face deadline to avoid IOUs

By STEVE LAWRENCE, Associated Press Writer Steve Lawrence, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 53 mins ago

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A midnight deadline loomed Tuesday as California lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dueled over ways to cut into a $24.3 billion budget deficit or face having to issue IOUs to cover the state's bills.

Democrats lawmakers, the majority in both houses, tried two approaches Monday but both failed to draw Republican support.

Voting almost totally along party lines, the state Senate approved a package of bills featuring spending cuts and fee and tax increases to close the deficit.

But the Republican governor quickly promised to veto the legislation, saying he wouldn't sign anything that raised taxes or fees more than he has proposed.

"They should forget about that," he said, accusing Democrats of going through a "song and dance. Let's get to work, fix it."

Hours later, Senate Democrats put up three stopgap spending cut bills that passed the Assembly last week with bipartisan support. But again Republicans refused to budge, saying the budget problems needed a comprehensive solution focusing on spending cuts.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said Democrats would not accept the deep cuts in college aid, health care and welfare programs sought by Schwarzenegger.

State Controller John Chiang has said he would have to start issuing IOUs unless lawmakers act by the end of the fiscal year on Tuesday.

Without a compromise, roughly $3 billion worth of IOUs will be issued in July to everyone from contractors to welfare recipients.

Democratic Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and Steinberg accused the governor of using last-minute maneuvers to push a laundry list of policy reforms rather than addressing the budget gap.

"It's not the way to go about working with people," Steinberg said. "It's not the way to go about working with your partner."

Democrats want to solve the deficit by cutting spending by $11 billion, raising the vehicle license fee by $15 to keep state parks open and increasing taxes on tobacco products and companies that drill for oil.

Schwarzenegger has proposed more aggressive cuts of $16 billion, including dropping health care for 930,000 low-income children and eliminating the state's main welfare program. He also would borrow $2 billion from local governments, take $6 billion from other government accounts, accelerate personal and corporate income tax collections, and cut state employee pay by another 5 percent.

___

Associated Press Writers Juliet Williams, Samantha Young and Don Thompson contributed to this report.