Media puts Putin worth $40 billion

Siberian Light wrote an interesting post today on Putin worth $40 billion.
Here’s a quick excerpt If you believe the rumours, Vladimir Putin has accumulated a personal fortune worth $40 billion dollars during his seven and a half years as President of Russia. That would comfortably make Putin Russia’s richest man. And Europe’s richest man. In fact, if Putin really is worth $40 billion, he would be the fourth richest man in the world.

The allegations of Putin’s vast wealth come from Stanislav Belkovsky, described as a Russian political analyst by the Guardian.
Stansilav Belkovsky, a Russian political scientist, claimed that Putin controlled "at least 75%" of Gunvor, through a "non-transparent network of offshore companies".

He told the Guardian: "Putin's name doesn't appear on any shareholders' register, of course. There is a non-transparent scheme of successive ownership of offshore companies and funds. The final point is in Zug [Switzerland] and Liechtenstein. Vladimir Putin should be the beneficiary owner."

Additionally, the president controls 37% of the shares of Surgutneftegaz, an oil exploration firm and Russia's third biggest oil producer, and 4.5% of Gazprom, Belkovsky alleged. Putin's personal fortune was $40bn (£20bn), he added.