How it became a hotel As Navalny’s investigation into ‘Putin’s palace’ gained tens of millions of views on YouTube, the Kremlin shifted from denying any interest in the property to exposing its ‘owners’

This record is long played out. Many years ago, we explained that there are no palaces belonging to Putin.

Here the president is being implicated in property that doesn’t exist… It’s utter nonsense — an unfounded fabrication and nothing more. We, therefore, don’t have the slightest inclination to look into it.

Nothing of what is shown there as my property belongs, or has ever belonged, to me, my friends, or relatives… They pieced it all together, decided to brainwash our citizens with it, and released it on the Internet as some kind of movie or video program.

The [palace] is owned by businessmen. It is, in fact, a large site well-known in Gelendzhik. And one or several [businessmen] own the site directly or indirectly. You most likely will agree that the Kremlin does not have the right to divulge the names of those owners. And we are not planning to do so… Are we supposed to get into private property? How exactly do you propose we do that? It’s not possible.

It’s an apartment-hotel, like a hotel – with suites, common areas, and a pool. It’s a hotel.

It was a complex property with many investors, and I managed to become the beneficiary… We want to build an apartment-hotel. Hence the relatively high number of rooms… The acquisition went through a few years ago. It’s a magnificent place — perfect for a hotel. I understood that it’s a somewhat scandalous and difficult building. But, mark my words, in two or three years, I’ll invite you to have a look and you will see just how splendid it is.