Tax exile Depardieu granted Russian citizenship

[NewsCaster]

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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