Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the southern Russian republic of Chechnya fully supports the idea of polygamy, but has not yet found a woman beautiful enough to become his second wife, a Russian newspaper reported on Thursday.
Kadyrov's wife, Medni, is from his native village of Tsentoroi. They have six children.
"If there is love, it's ok to have four wives... If you can build a home, keep your wives in the same conditions, not infringe their rights, then Sharia [the sacred law of Islam] allows a man to have four wives," Kadyrov said in an interview with Russia's Komsomolskaya Pravda paper.
"It is much fairer than keeping one or two mistresses while your children starve at home," Kadyrov said.
He said he did not cheat on his wife, and emphasized that Sharia allows a second marriage only if the first wife agrees. "If my wife was against polygamy I wouldn't have married her," Kadyrov was reported as saying with a laugh.
When asked why he has not yet married for a second time, Kadyrov said he was looking for a bride.
"Currently, I am on the look out, but I can not find a beautiful one. If there was, I would marry her immediately," he was quoted as saying. "I am always on the look out for a worthy bride."
MOSCOW, February 24 (RIA Novosti)