MOSCOW, July 27 (RIA Novosti) - Media reports detailing Mikhail Kasyanov's purchase of 5 hectares of woodland off the Rublevo-Uspenskoe Shosse near Moscow are a "distortion of facts", the former prime minister's press secretary said. "Mikhail Kasyanov clearly said everything that needs to be said on this subject in his statement and I have nothing to add," said Tatyana Razbash. Returning to Moscow Monday from a holiday abroad, Kasyanov said that a "smear campaign" had been launched against him.
"I have returned to Moscow despite the threats being leveled against me. I have no doubt that the systematic smear campaign that has been launched against me, based on lies and the misrepresentation of facts, is part of the authorities' general plan to purge the political field," Kasyanov said.
On Wednesday, the Russian daily newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported quoted State Duma Deputy Alexander Khinshtein as saying the Prosecutor General's Office will soon receive documents linked to yet another land purchase in the Moscow Region owned by Kasyanov.
Previously, following Khinshtein's reports, the Prosecutor's Office launched criminal proceedings in which Kasyanov's name was mentioned in relation to his purchase of a state country home.
In this case, he purchased 5 hectares of woodland in a prestigious area.
"By my calculations, the tax contribution alone from this deal should be around $3 million," the newspaper quoted Khinshtein as saying.
