Putin grants French actor Depardieu Russian citizenship

PARIS - Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Russian citizenship to famous French actor Gerard Depardieu, France's channel BFMTV reported Thursday.

"Vladimir Putin has signed a decree granting Russian citizenship to France's Gerard Depardieu," said a statement from the Kremlin quoted by AFP.

French actor Gerard Depardieu (L) speaks with Vladimir Putin (R), then Russian Prime Minister, during a meeting in St.Petersburg in this Dec 11, 2010 file photo. Russian President Vladimir Putin has granted citizenship to Depardieu, the French movie star who quit his homeland to avoid a tax hike on the rich, the Kremlin said on Jan 3, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

The news was widely reported by local media which have eyed closely the choice of Depardieu who has been seeking a tax exile by moving to settle down in another country.

The movie star has earlier threatened to abandon his French citizenship by returning his passport back, in a way to protest against the upper tax rate over million-euro earners proposed by the new French Socialist government.

The policy has been under attack after being recently approved by the government and has caused some wealthy citizens, including Depardieu who was once considering to move to Belgium.

Last Saturday, the French Constitutional Council ruled out 75-percent income tax rate on earnings over 1 million euros ($1.32 million) per year, a key measure of President Francois Hollande's election campaign, saying it is against the equality in public charges.

However, Hollande reiterated in his New Year Eve greeting message that the French wealthy have to help more in restoring public finances. He also urged the prime minister to redraft new proposals on tax.

Via high taxes on the rich, he wants to cut the public gap by 1.5 point percentage to 3 percent of GDP in 2013 by collecting billion of euros.

French actor Gerard Depardieu arrives for the Pacific Meridian International Film Festival in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok in this September 17, 2010 file photograph. Russian President Vladimir Putin has granted citizenship to Depardieu, the French movie star who quit his homeland to avoid a tax hike on the rich, the Kremlin said on Jan 3, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]