Beer enthusiasts the world over appreciate German varieties, and the Russian president is no exception. Chancellor Angela Merkel even sends Vladimir Putin a few bottles of Saxony-brewed pilsner, the president has revealed.

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“From time to time, Angela sends me a few bottles of Radeberger beer,” the Russian leader said in the documentary film ‘Putin,’ made by VGTRK channel, referring to the German chancellor by her first name. When he was a KGB agent, Putin used to visit “one of the best breweries” in the town of Radeberg with his family during his years in Eastern Germany, where he was stationed in the 1980s, he said in the book ‘First Person.’

But apparently the German variety is not the only ‘beer of choice’ for the Russian leader. Putin also shared a beer with then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev while visiting Moscow’s popular ‘Zhiguli’ bar.

Even with a sip of good beer at the end of a long day, leading Russia is no easy task, according to German ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who also featured in the film.

“I’ve always said there’re two jobs I would never want to take. First is the place of the Pope, another is the position of Russian president. The need to hold this enormous country together is definitely the most difficult thing to imagine in politics,” Schroeder said.

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