After his quibbles with the French tax system, Gerard Depardieu has been granted Russian citizenship by Vladimir Putin.
The 63-year-old French actor - who moved to Belgium in December over his anger at French President Francois Hollande's proposed 75 per cent tax hike on the super-rich - officially became a Russian citizen yesterday morning after President Putin accepted his request to become a national.
Kremlin officials confirmed the news on Twitter, posting: "Vladimir Putin signs order giving Gerard Depardieu Russian citizenship."
Asterix and Obelix actor Gerard is well-known in Russia and a regular in TV ads for Sovietsky Bank. So, really, it all makes perfect sense.
The actor put his €50 million Parisian home on the market and moved to tax-friendly Belgium last month, declaring in an open letter that he planned to turn over his passport and French social security card because of Hollande's new tax on millionaires.
France's civil code states that a person must take up a new nationality in order to relinquish their French citizenship.
He ranted: "We no longer have the same homeland, I am a true European, a citizen of the world, as my father always taught me to believe."
>Gerard Depardieu is quitting France to avoid paying tax. Blames Francois Hollande.
>Gerard Depardieu falls off scooter in Paris. Gets arrested for DUI.
