On November 28, the Cypriot authorities revoked the passports of 77 people who had obtained citizenship through the controversial golden visa scheme.
This was reported by Politico with reference to the Cypriot media.
The passport-for-investment program, which was suspended in 2020, allowed foreigners to obtain citizenship and the right to reside in Cyprus in exchange for investments of millions of euros. This week, the Cypriot government decided to revoke another 77 passports, most of which belong to Russian citizens.
Among the individuals whose passports were revoked are Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, metallurgical magnate Alexei Kuzmichev, former FSB investigator Sergei Kovbasyuk, and Ukrainian billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky, who was recently arrested in Kyiv on suspicion of fraud and money laundering.
The Cypriot authorities do not comment on publications concerning confidential decisions of the Council of Ministers or personal data.
The reasons for the revocation of passports were false declarations, criminal background and non-compliance with naturalization requirements. This brings the total number of revoked passports to 286.
The golden visa scheme, launched in 2013, brought Cyprus about €7 billion. The main participants in the program were citizens of Russia and China, and the resort town of Limassol became known as “Limassolgrad” because many of its properties are owned by Russian investors.