Gerard Depardieu has been granted Russian citizenship
The 63-year-old French actor - who moved to Belgium in December over his anger at French President Francois Hollande`s proposed 75 per cent tax hike on the super-rich - officially became a Russian citizen on 03.01.13 after President Vladimir Putin accepted his request to become a national.
Kremlin officials confirmed the news on Twitter, posting: "Vladimir Putin signs order giving Gerard Depardieu Russian citizenship."
`Asterix and Obelix` actor Gerard is well-known in Russia and a regular in TV ads for Sovietsky Bank.
The controversial actor put his £40 million Parisian home on the market and moved to tax-friendly Belgium last month, declaring in an open letter that he planned to turn over his passport and French social security card because of Hollande`s new tax on millionaires.
France`s civil code states that a person must take up a new nationality in order to relinquish their French citizenship.
He ranted: "We no longer have the same homeland, I am a true European, a citizen of the world, as my father always taught me to believe."
Gerard has become notorious for his erratic behaviour in recent years, most memorably when he urinated into a bottle on an airplane when he was denied permission to use the on-board toilet.
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