The world may be in a financial crisis but Russia's wealthy set are still ready to spend, spend, spend - or so it seemed at Moscow's latest Millionaire Fair, held in the shadow of the Kremlin. Russia has been hit more than most by the recession, with the country's wealthiest 25 tycoons losing a staggering total of £160 billion in the latest figures from Forbes. Yet ostentatious oligarchs with bottomless wallets, and the many craving for this status, are untroubled about splashing out on the bad taste bling on offer to those with more money than sense.
Fridges wrapped in snake skin. A stretch Hummer with its own pole-dancing stage for the mogul too busy to get to his striptease club, or perhaps stuck in Moscow's choking traffic jams. Coffee tables for £250,000 with woolly mammoth tusks for legs, or armchairs covered in bear skin. It's all available - for the right price.
There are some signs that the recession is hitting - in 2007, a diamond-encrusted Mercedes took centre stage. This year Mercedes downgraded to a mere chrome-covered £300,000 Kamrus SLR 750.
Burly security men prevented access to those without invitations or ready to stump up £30 for entry to see how the top one per cent live two decades after Russia ditched its 'everyone is equal' ideology for rollercoaster capitalism.
Finally, though, with many Russians forced to tighten their belts, the sight of such conspicuous consumption has caused a reaction. There are those, like 29-year-old passer by Igor, who don't seem to know whether to laugh or cry when they see the wealth on display.
He points out: 'The whole world is still in the middle of a crisis. And such a lavish event in the centre of our capital - is that really necessary? 'But in Russia people have always loved glamour and luxury, and they like to show it off.'
If you've got it, flaunt it. And if you haven't, dream that one day you might. As 22-year-old Olga said: 'Just look around here at the high-end real estate, the yachts, the horses over there that cost up to 200,000 euros. 'Here at the Millionaire Fair I can look at it, touch it, feel like I'm part of this luxury world myself.'
But not all are so sanguine. For the first time a politician has stood out against the Millionaire Fair and demanded that his fellow legislators visit it in order to see that the gap between the haves and have nots has gone too far. Sergei Mironov, speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament, has demanded that oligarchs like Roman Abramovich should pay a luxury tax when they buy new super yachts, famous paintings or even football clubs.
He wants a tax of between one and five per cent on private jets and helicopters, expensive cars, yachts, jewellery, sculptures, and expensive homes bought by Reds-to-Riches moguls. Mironov said the fair proved his point that a luxury tax sting is 'a grounded, up-to-date and fair measure'.
He stressed it 'will not stop the buyers of yachts and fridges wrapped in snake skin' from making their purchases. However, it would show that Russia's 97,000 millionaires and billionaires are putting something back into the hard-hit Russian economy.
Critics say this is unfair since the rich already pay taxes on their income and property, and it would amount to tax on top of tax. Others say it wouldn't hit the really rich who are resident overseas and able to exploit the benefits of offshore havens. Scratch the surface and some exhibitors at this recent high-end extravaganza admit that spending has dropped dramatically.
Bentley and Rolls Royce were absent from the fair, as were Italian-made Agusta helicopters, a favourite prize of Russian oligarchs. 'My overall turnover dropped 40 per cent,' complained Mark Tuck, the head of Paradise Properties, which sells villas in Bali. Half of the group's clientele are Russian.
This year's fair was in a hall a quarter of the size of the previous one. Some exhibitors were putting on a brave face.
'I don't speak about the crisis, I think positive,' a smiling salesgirl said at a stand featuring Swiss-made Zai skis of granite and wood that sell for up to £7,350 a pair.
'Of course the crisis hasn't ended yet, but it's obvious that people are sick of being too cautious,' said a saleswoman for six-figure fur coats 'They want to go out there and treat themselves again, for example. Yes, some might be investing a little less than usual, but they do want to spend money.'
Some still appear to disagree. As the fair ended an opposition political activist jumped on the stage and shouted: 'Go to hell.'
