Putin's Business Card Sold at Auction

The business card of Russian President Vladimir Putin, from his time as a people's deputy in the Leningrad City Council during the 1990s, was sold at an electronic auction for 2 million rubles yesterday. This information was reported by the auction platform's website, as conveyed by RIA Novosti.

The auction featured Putin's business card from his role as an adviser on international relations to the chairman of the Leningrad City Council. Several phone numbers on this card are written in Putin's own hand.

Previously, the maximum bid had reached 2,800 rubles, starting from a bid of 1,000 rubles, but five hours before the auction's start on Sunday, the highest bid had climbed to 200,000 rubles. "Sold for 2,000,000 rubles," is noted in the catalog of the electronic auction lots.

The auction platform does not disclose the identities of the auction winners.

This is not the first time Putin's business cards have been up for sale. In October 2019, a business card from his time as the head of the External Relations Committee of the St. Petersburg City Hall was sold for 2 million rubles. Putin held that position from 1991 to 1996. Earlier on the same website, a "one hundred percent original" business card from his service in the Leningrad City Council was also displayed for 950,000 rubles.