[ad_1]
“I think my story is very interesting because it is a typical story of an emigrant who arrived in the country and achieved a result,” Cirillo himself told the media.
The Italian, called Putin’s mansion, first gave a great interview in 2012 in The New Times.
L. Cirillo came to Moscow in the early 90s, opened a small creative studio. He was in his 30s at the time. A young Italian architect got into the billionaire building business through acquaintances; for example, he designed the building of Vukito Alekperov, the head of Lukoil, a house for the Russian nomenclature in the elite Rubliovka. In 2012, L. Cirillo’s workshop already employed 120 people.
PHOTO GALLERY. Putin’s mansion in Gelendzhik
“Nothing strange, nothing secret, all people tend to stir, they want to discover some intrigue. And I just like working here, to earn money ”, explained L. Cirillo in an interview.
The journalists of The New Times did not detect Cirillo’s projects in Italy. The Moscow architects didn’t know anything about it either. The then chief Moscow architect Alexander Kuzmin reviewed the archives of the last 15 years: L. Cirillo’s workshop was mentioned only once.
“Who knows what I need,” Cirillo told critics.
In 2015, L. Cirillo agreed to speak with journalists from “Laisvės radio”. He then declined to comment on the construction of Putin’s mansion, but said he had designed houses and offices for 43 Russian billionaires. Cirillo said he had worked with both Gazprom and Novatek, co-owned by Putin’s friend Gennady Timchenko.
“We sold more than architecture, we sold lifestyle,” explained the Italian.
In 2015, he also revealed that he had received his education at one of the universities in Venice, but was unable to confirm it in Russia. Therefore, he does not sign projects in his own name. At the beginning of his work in Russia, he simply signed the initials BIA. Russian clients thought it was proof of his aristocratic origins.
According to Cirillo himself, this abbreviation means “poor Italian architect” (in Russian: bednyj italianskij architektor). By 2015, it already employed 200 people and 600 subcontractors. The Italian office is located in the center of Moscow, near the Kremlin.
“I dreamed of Russian citizenship, submitted an application to the Federal Migration Service, wrote a letter, and obtained citizenship,” he explained.
In 2014, Putin signed an ordinance that granted Russian citizenship to Lanfranco Cirillo. In an interview with the Italian media, he admitted that he had been “beaten by the tax authorities” in his homeland. Being a taxpayer in Russia was much more convenient for him.
“If the most important people in Russia sleep on Italian sheets, among Italian furniture and Italian works of art, I am happy to have contributed to that,” he explained.
L. Cirillo does not comment on Putin’s mansion, but does not deny his work on the project. In 2011, an article appeared in the Italian media about the now famous 80 meter long bridge that leads to the tea house at Putin’s Manor.
“I can’t forget that the first time the client came to the place,” Cirillo said. – He was surrounded by guards and an escort. When they saw the wooden bridge, they were a little disturbed, afraid to step on it. To ease the tension, I got behind the wheel of my heavy Range Rover and drove back and forth across the bridge. After getting out of the car, the client crossed the bridge with his entourage, laughing and giggling, jumped on it and asked, “He’s holding on. How long will the bridge last? “I replied: I guarantee that our children and our grandchildren will be able to walk on this bridge.”
Cirillo loved the Black Sea coast so much that he bought a house there, not far from Putin’s property, according to Current Time. In addition, together with Tatiana Kuznetsova, who was the official client of the construction of the mansion, L. Cirillo became a co-owner of the bank. It is not clear what that bank was doing. In 2020, it filed for bankruptcy.
The last known work of L. Cirillo is the project of the Parliamentary Center of the Russian Duma in 2015. However, the deputies rejected the project. It is not clear what the “poor Italian” is doing now.
[ad_2]
