Show him the money? Putin's income grew by $15k in 2019, rising almost 13%

Russian President Vladimir Putin's declared income grew by 1.1 million rubles ($15,000) in 2019, increasing his yearly net earnings to 9.7 million ($133,000).

The president also declared the ownership of two apartments (though only one is currently in use), three Russian-made vehicles (two GAZ-M21 and a Lada Niva), and a ‘Skif’ trailer (also made in Russia).

All of Putin’s property is located inside the country. In 2015, he famously claimed that he doesn't know his salary, which is considerably lower than the official salary of $400,000 for the president of the US. “They just give it to me, and I put it away in my account,” he said. 

Despite a six-figure salary, some have claimed that Putin's true wage is actually much higher, and that his net worth stands in the billions. In 2017, Kremlin critic Bill Browder estimated the president's value at $200 billion. Browder, a hedge-fund manager who gave up his US passport to avoid paying taxes, is wanted by Russia for a long list of crimes, including tax evasion and murder. Contrary to Browder's claims, certain Russian analysts believe that President Putin is not particularly wealthy. In 2016, former Vedomosti editor Leonid Bershidsky wrote in Bloomberg that Putin “is as poor as a church mouse” but has very rich associates. 

Current Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin reported an income of 18.2 million rubles ($250,000). In 2019, Mishustin was the head of the country's Federal Tax Service, only becoming prime minister at the beginning of 2020.The then-prime minister, former President Dmitry Medvedev, declared an income of more than 11 million rubles ($151,000), with Putin's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov earning 14.6 million ($200,000). Peskov's wife, Tatiana Navka, earned considerably more at 235.9 million ($3.2 million). Navka is a former Winter Olympics ice skating gold medalist.

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