Four More Russian Billionaires Lose Cypriot Citizenship, Following EU Sanctions

In this regard, deputy government spokeswoman Niovi Parisinou back in April noted through a statement that a total of 11 members of Russian billionaire’s families would lose their citizenship in such a move, according to Radio Free Europe, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

Following the Cypriot government policy, the names of persons affected by the recent decision have not been published; however, according to local media reports, on April 21, Russian tycoons Oleg Deripaska as well as Igor Kesayev; the owner of the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda and RBK media-holding, Grigory Beryozkin; and Gulbakhor Ismailova, a sister of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, have been affected by the recent decision of Cypriot authorities.

The four Russian billionaires, as well as their family members, acquired citizenship in Cyprus through the latter’s Golden Passport program that permitted international investors to hold Cyprus passports, provided they made a specific amount of money investment and met several conditions.

However, after a report by Al Jazeera, which revealed that some of the authorities in Cyprus used the scheme which grants citizenship and visa-free travel throughout EU countries to those who make an investment of at least €2 million, Cyprus closed its Golden Passport Program in 2020.

Still, last week local media reports in Cyprus revealed that four other billionaires from Russia, Mikhail Gutseriyev, Aleksandr Ponomarenko, Vadim Moshkovich, and Aleksei Kuzmichyov, will also lose Cypriot citizenship, which was acquired through the Golden Passport Program.

The war in Ukraine caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of the latter has led authorities in the European Union Member States to impose harsh sanctions on Russia.

Besides, as part of sanctions,  the European Commission previously called on EU states operating citizenship-by-investment as well as residency by investment programs to review all beneficiaries from Russia and Belarus of such schemes and make sure they are not part of the EU’s list of sanctions related to the war in Ukraine.

The call of the European Commission towards EU countries’ authorities came after an evaluation that some Russian or Belarusian nationals who hold EU citizenship or residence rights through their citizenship-by-investment or residence-by-investment programs may be supporting the invasion of Ukraine.

“The Commission is urging Member States to immediately repeal any existing investor citizenship schemes and to ensure strong checks are in place to address the risks posed by investor residence schemes,” a press release on March 28 noted.

Besides, it was reported that due to the war in Ukraine, the following European countries suspended the Golden visa program, which permits third-country nationals to acquire residency in EU countries that run such programs, Greece, Czech Republic, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Malta.