Shamalov... was hired by Putin in 1993. The conflict of interest was massive.

Ref: 1) Sergei Kolesnikov, Interviewed by Masha Gessen et al.: 'Pochemy Ya rasskazal pro Dvorets Putina. My pereshli granitsy mezhdy dobrom i zlom v 2009 gody' [Sergei Kolesnikov: Why I told about the Palace of Putin. "We crossed the line between good and evil in 2009"] Snob.ru (June 22, 2011) 2) David Ignatius, "Sergey Kolesnikov's Tale of Palatial Corruption, Russian Style." The Washington Post (Dec 23, 2010)