‘Reuters’ says Andrey Akimov, an official at Gazprombank, outed the identity of Putin's daughter. Akimov says no way.

Andrey Akimov, deputy chairman of the Russian lender Gazprombank, denies that he told Reuters that Katerina Tikhonova is one of Vladimir Putin's daughters. Following Reuters' publication of a revelatory report earlier today about Tikhonova, her relationship to Putin, and her alleged $2-billion wealth, Gazprombank's press office released a statement accusing the news agency of falsely attributing words to Akimov.

"It is not true. Mr. Akimov never made these statements, and he was very surprised that journalists from such a reputable publication are guilty not just of distorting what was said, but doctoring his remarks outright," Gazprombank said in a public statement today.

On November 10, Reuters published a story titled, "Putin’s Daughter, A Young Billionaire and the President’s Friends," where Akimov is quoted saying, “I knew it was Putin’s daughter," when asked about Tikhonova and Innopraktika. Reuters also says it received confirmation about Tikhonova being Putin's daughter from two senior academic sources, "one at Moscow State University and one scientist with close contacts there."

Katerina Tikhonova works as the director of the Innopraktika Foundation, which is currently developing a real estate project at Moscow State University that’s estimated to be worth almost $2 billion.

When asked about Tikhonova's relationship to Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin's official spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters ambiguously, “I am unable to assess that.”