Panama Papers: Russian bank denies €2bn Putin link to Panama

The head of a major Russian state-owned bank dismissed as nonsense reports that President Vladimir Putin is linked to as much as €2bn in offshore transactions allegedly involving people close to the Kremlin leader.

“Mr Putin was never involved. It’s bullshit,” said Andrey Kostin, chief executive officer of VTB Group, Russia’s second-largest lender. He also rejected allegations that the lender made unsecured loans through a Cyprus-based subsidiary to a close friend of the president.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said that leaked files from a Panama law firm that creates shell companies show at least €2bn in transactions involved people and companies that the ICIJ alleged had ties to Putin.