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Putin gives Depardieu hug and passport

2013-01-06 27 Dailymotion

President Vladmir Putin offers a warm greeting to a new high-profile Russian citizen.

The Russian leader has granted citizenship to French actor Gerard Depardieu following a tax dispute in his home country.

Depardieu objects to socialist president Francois Hollande's plan to impose a 75 percent tax rate on euro millionaires.

The actor is popular in Russia and has appeared in ad campaigns there.

After offering him a Russian passport last month, Putin hosted the actor over the weekend at the Black Sea resort of Sochi where the president was spending part of the holidays.

Russia has a flat-rate income tax of 13 percent.