RUSSIA:Known as Russia's most eligible bachelor in his home country, multibillionaire Mikhail Prokhorov plans an extravagant wedding, just to win a bet.
The 200cm (6ft 6in) tall oligarch plans a lavish €8 million party for 800 of his friends in the Maldives islands to coincide with his 42nd birthday this coming May 3rd.
He hopes to win a wager of undisclosed value by also marrying at the same time - but will divorce again five days later.
A Russian official will also be flown out for both events on the islands of Paradise and Kurumba, along with the guests on five chartered jets.
Although initially believed to be a joke in the Russian media, the plans, revealed in Russia's best-selling tabloid newspaper, Tvoi Den, are now being taken seriously.
Prokhorov, estimated last month to be the joint third-richest man in Russia and worth €11 billion, hit the headlines earlier this year after his brief detention at the French ski resort of Courcheval. French prosecutors suggested he played a role in pimping for prostitutes at one of the main winter playgrounds for the oligarchs.
After a short spell in police custody in Lyons, Prokhorov was released without charge, but later issued a statement through his lawyers denying the specific allegations, but defending his lifestyle, arguing that rich people just live differently.
However, his high-profile arrest accelerated Prokhorov's split from his long-suffering business partner, the more sober Vladimir Potanin. He described the arrest as a "scandalous situation".
The best thing Prokhorov could do to improve the damage done to wealthy Russians was "to behave better", he suggested.
The latest indication of high spending by Russia's wealthy elite comes as the Russian Orthodox Church has been hosting a conference on poverty in the country. It has called for the Kremlin to make more effort to close the massive gap between the ostentatious wealth of a few and the millions of Russians struggling on tiny salaries.