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Former tennis great Nastase may follow Depardieu to Russia
| Published: | 14 Jan at 6 PM |
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Romanian former tennis star Ilie Nastase, now living in Bucharest, says he’d be happy to emigrate to Russia to avoid Romanian taxes once the Russian weather warms up.
Nastase told the media he is fed up with the high level of income tax in his home country and was willing to take a leaf out of Gerard Depardieu’s book and move to Russia. He added that his taxes were used to pay the salaries of Euro politicians and Romanian parliamentarians, saying he didn’t want to keep contributing.
His rant came after the news broke that Vladimir Putin had granted French movie legend Gerard Depardieu a Russian residency visa following the star’s defection to Belgium to avoid a controversial rise in the tax liabilities of the wealthy. However, Nastase isn’t packing his racquets and bags just yet, as he considers the Russian winter is far too cold.
He said he’d wait until the summer to emigrate, even although it means he’ll have to pay much more than the 13 per cent income tax in Russia in the meantime. Romanian winter lows drop to 22°F as against Russia’s 16°F and lower, and summer highs in Romania sit around 35°C against Russia’s cooler 25°C.
It’s not the first time Nastase has courted controversy via the press, as most remember his statement in 1996 whilst running for Mayor of Bucharest that he had slept with over 2,500 women. He’d also been heard during his tennis career to say ‘Hello, Racist’ when introduced to a South African player, supposedly to demonstrate his strong feelings against apartheid.
Nastase told the media he is fed up with the high level of income tax in his home country and was willing to take a leaf out of Gerard Depardieu’s book and move to Russia. He added that his taxes were used to pay the salaries of Euro politicians and Romanian parliamentarians, saying he didn’t want to keep contributing.
His rant came after the news broke that Vladimir Putin had granted French movie legend Gerard Depardieu a Russian residency visa following the star’s defection to Belgium to avoid a controversial rise in the tax liabilities of the wealthy. However, Nastase isn’t packing his racquets and bags just yet, as he considers the Russian winter is far too cold.
He said he’d wait until the summer to emigrate, even although it means he’ll have to pay much more than the 13 per cent income tax in Russia in the meantime. Romanian winter lows drop to 22°F as against Russia’s 16°F and lower, and summer highs in Romania sit around 35°C against Russia’s cooler 25°C.
It’s not the first time Nastase has courted controversy via the press, as most remember his statement in 1996 whilst running for Mayor of Bucharest that he had slept with over 2,500 women. He’d also been heard during his tennis career to say ‘Hello, Racist’ when introduced to a South African player, supposedly to demonstrate his strong feelings against apartheid.
Comments » There are 2 comments
Andrei wrote 11
years ago:
"and summer highs in Romania sit around 35°F" -> I believe you meant 35°C!
Expatsblog wrote 11
years ago:
Well spotted Andrei, article updated!
