Vladimir Putin has built a £600 million Italianate palace near a Black Sea resort with proceeds culled from ‘corruption, bribery and theft’, a Russian businessman has alleged.

The claim was originally made in a letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and picked up by the Novaya Gazeta newspaper. The title obtained what it said was an authenticated copy of the original contract for the palace signed in 2005 by Vladimir Kozhin, the Russian presidential property manager. Putin, the current prime minister, was President at the time.

The businessman behind the clams, Sergei Kolesnikov, has compared the property to a palace built for Russia’s Tsars outside St Petersburg. He added that Putin personally approved the design and materials.

The palace reportedly spans eight million square feet and features its own helipad, an indoor cinema, a summer amphitheatre, a casino, swimming pools, a gym and a clock tower.

Kolesnikov has demanded that President Medvedev investigate his claim: ‘A palace is being built on the Black Sea coast for the personal use of the Russian prime minister,” he wrote in his original letter. “As things stand, the cost of the palace is $1 billion. The funds were mostly raised through a combination of corruption, bribery and theft.’

Kolesnikov said he was involved in the project himself until 2009 when he was removed for raising concerns about corruption. His claims and pictures of the lavish residence have appeared on a Russian whistle-blowing web site, with Kolesnikov adding that a state construction company was building the palace and that state funds had been illegally diverted to the project.

Meanwhile, Putin’s spokesman has dismissed the claims, and President Medvedev has not responded to the allegations.

Via [Telegraph]