The list published by the Politis newspaper in Cyprus includes dozens of billionaires
Cyprus has revoked 77 passports from people who acquired citizenship through the country’s “golden visa” scheme, as part of action to address concerns surrounding the once-lucrative program, the Politis newspaper has reported.
Among the key reasons for revoking the passports were false declarations, failure to meet local naturalization requirements, and criminal backgrounds, according to the publication. The list of names released by the media on Sunday did not contain specific information about the reasons for annulment in each particular case.
Cyprus scrapped its controversial golden visa program in 2020. The scheme had allowed foreigners to secure residence and citizenship rights, as well as guaranteed visa-free travel throughout the EU in return for investments of at least €2 million ($2.1 million) into the country’s economy. The abolition followed allegations that local lawmakers and state officials were involved in issuing a passport to a fictional Chinese businessman with a supposed criminal record.
Passports issued to the investors’ family members have also been revoked, according to Politis, which also reported the existence of a secret list with nine additional names, bringing the total number of investors losing their passports to 86. The cases of all the investors whose passports have been revoked will be further investigated by the Cypriot police, Politis added.
The list of names released by the newspaper includes a number of Russians and Ukrainians. Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, a once-powerful media tycoon who was arrested on the orders of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky last year, and Oleg Bakhmatiuk, owner of the agricultural company UkrLandFarming, are listed in the published file.
It also includes several Russians from the Forbes Billionaires List, such as aluminum magnate and Rusal founder Oleg Deripaska, owner of the Mercury Group and Megapolis Group Igor Kesaev, main shareholder of the Safmar Group Mikhail Gutseriev, Alfa Group co-founder Aleksey Kuzmichev, construction tycoon and former chairman of the board of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport Aleksandr Ponomarenko, longtime chairman of agro-industrial firm Rusagro and former Russian MP Vadim Moshkovich, and co-founder of Russian discount retail chain Fix Price and owner of Cypriot football club Pafos FC Sergey Lomakin.
Media reports emerged in 2022 that some of those listed in the file revealed by Politis, including Gutseriev, Kuzmichev, Ponomarenk, and Moshkovich, faced denationalization in Cyprus. Deripaska was reportedly stripped of his Cypriot passport in 2019. The country’s Interior Ministry had previously refused to disclose the names targeted by the annulment.
