Mr. Putin refused to accept a luxury apartment from a businessman.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused a gift of an apartment that the Sapsan construction group intended to give him, saying he would be happy if the gift were given to orphans or seriously ill children.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

According to RIA on October 9, everything started when Mr. Andrei Fomochkin, representative of the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of Belarus, who waved the Russian flag at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, was given a luxury apartment in Moscow by the president of the Russian Sapsan Group, Sergei Shmakov.

During the apartment handover ceremony, Mr. Shmakov said that he also wanted to give President Putin such an apartment because of what the president has done for the country.

Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, said that Putin heard Shmakov's remarks on the radio. "In fact, in situations like this, of course, the president cannot accept gifts. But the president said that he would be happy if such an apartment were given to those who need it - seriously ill children or orphans, for example," Peskov told reporters, adding that "in this case, it could be a joint gift from Shmakov and President Putin to the children."

According to TNO