French Icon Gerard Depardieu Receives Russian Passport, Visits Mordovia

Gerard Depardieu has recently renounced his French citizenship after the Socialist government proposed a top income-tax rate of 75 percent on high-wealth residents. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree granting Depardieu Russian citizenship on January 3

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Depardieu met with Putin to pick up his passport in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi on Saturday, and next day flew to the city of Saransk in Mordovia, known for its Stalin-era Gulag labor camps.
Photo: Gerard Depardieu shows his Russian passport at a Saransk airport

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Mordovia regional governor Vladimir Volkov (right) took Depardieu for a tour around Saransk, and said that the actor can fill the vacant seat of regional minister for culture

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Depardieu thanked Volkov for the ministerial job offer. He said that he will make a decision after learning the republic’s culture and traditions

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Mordovia’s authorities offered Depardieu choose an apartment or a house and settle there. Following a local housewarming tradition, Depardieu was presented with two kittens

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Depardieu has already said Moscow is a too big metropolis for him and he would like to live in a village

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Having received Russian passport, Depardieu said that he loves Russia and promised to learn Russian language.
Photo: Gerard Depardieu (right) and head of the Mordovia republic Vladimir Volkov on the stage of a Saransk theater