(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/ap/russia%20depardieu-1766546095_v2.380;380;7;70;0.jpg)Alexei Nikolsky / APGerard Depardieu and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in 2010.By Alexei Anishchuk , ReutersRussian President Vladimir Putin has granted citizenship to Gerard Depardieu, the French movie star who is quitting his homeland to avoid a tax hike on the rich, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
The "Cyrano de Bergerac" actor bought a house across the border in Belgium last year to avoid a new tax rate for millionaires in France planned by Socialist President Francois Hollande but said he could also seek tax exile elsewhere.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Depardieu had applied for citizenship after Putin told reporters last month that he would be welcome in Russia. "The citizenship could not have been granted to him without (such an) appeal," Peskov said.
Putin told a news conference last month: "If Gerard really wants to have either a residency permit in Russia or a Russian passport, we will assume that this matter is settled and settled positively."
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