Deripaska ‘loses Cypriot citizenship’

OLEG DERIPASKA, the Russian billionaire with ties to the Kremlin, has had his Cypriot citizenship revoked as the island nation clamps down on abuse of its passport-for-investment scheme, it has been reported.

Earlier this month, Cyprus announced it had identified 26 recipients of Cypriot passports under the programme that were under review. The list included nine Russian citizens.

According to Politis, the Russians included Mr Deripaska, his wife and his daughter, as well as businessmen Vladimir Stolyarenko and Alexander Bondarenko and their families as well as Cambodians, Chinese, Kenyan, Malaysian and Iranian nationals.

Cypriot citizenship, which Mr Deripaska gained in 2017 through a policy that granted a passport to anybody who invested at least $2.2 million (£1.7 million) in the local economy, granted him the right to travel and live across the EU without the restrictions faced by Russian passport-holders.

Cyprus has now revoked the citizenship rights of Mr Deripaska, who in 2018 was sanctioned by the US over his alleged ties to Vladimir Putin, Politis reported.

However, the Cypriot government has not confirmed the report.

Three of Mr Deripaska’s companies were also sanctioned, though those were later lifted as part of an agreement that saw him divest his controlling shares in the firms.

Unidentified representatives of Mr Deripaska were quoted in the Russian press last night, denying the Politis report. The RBC news outlet quoted a representative as saying “no official notice of any kind” has been issued by the Cypriot government. A Kremlin spokesman said it was an “internal issue” for Cyprus and Mr Deripaska.