MOSCOW — Gérard Depardieu, the French actor who is fleeing high taxes in France, arrived Saturday in Russia by private airplane to claim his new Russian passport, possibly from President Vladimir V. Putin himself.
A spokesman for Mr. Putin told Reuters that the two men would meet in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, an encounter that might include the handing over of the passport.
When he receives the papers, Mr. Depardieu will become a Russian citizen, liable only for a flat, 13 percent income tax rate, compared with the 75 percent on income over 1 million euros ($1.3 million) he would be likely to pay under France’s new Socialist government. A French court temporarily suspended the top tax rate, but the government is expected to reinstate it.
To escape the new French tax bill, Mr. Depardieu first registered as a resident of Belgium. The resulting furor apparently captured Mr. Putin’s attention, and he offered Russian citizenship to Mr. Depardieu. The actor responded by writing an open letter to Russian state television, saying, “I really love your president, V. Putin, and it is mutual.”
But it remains to be seen whether Mr. Putin will continue a Soviet-era tradition by taking up more causes of citizens of Western states who are in disputes with their governments.
