Putin, the Oligarch, and the Tax Dispute Over a $14 Million Fabergé Egg

A sumptuous Fabergé egg, presented by Vladimir Putin to St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum this month to mark the museum’s 250th anniversary, has become the center of a tax dispute between Britain and a Russian oligarch.

The gold and jewel-encrusted egg, which once belonged to the Rothschild banking dynasty, was bought by billionaire Russian businessman Alexander Ivanov at a Christie’s auction in London in 2007. The sale price of 8.9 million pounds ($14 million) was the highest ever paid for a lot at a Russian art auction. Now Britain claims Ivanov owes value-added taxes on the egg and other costly items he purchased in the country.