Kolomoiskyi was stripped of his Cypriot citizenship along with Russian oligarchs

Kolomoiskyi was stripped of his Cypriot citizenship along with Russian oligarchs

Cyprus has revoked more passports from individuals who obtained citizenship through the controversial "golden visa" program.

This was reported by  Politico with reference to Cypriot media.

The "cash for passports" program, which was suspended in 2020 under growing pressure, offered foreigners the right to residency and citizenship in exchange for investments in the country worth millions of euros.

However, at this week’s Cabinet meeting, the government decided to revoke an additional 77 "golden" passports, most of which belong to Russian citizens.

Among them are Russian oligarch Alexey Kuzmichev, "metallurgical baron" Oleg Deripaska, former FSB investigator Sergey Kovbasyuk, and Ukrainian billionaire Ihor Kolomoiskyi, who was arrested in Kyiv on charges of fraud and money laundering. Malaysian businessman and fugitive financier Jho Low also made the list of individuals who lost their Cypriot citizenship.

Two government officials declined to comment on the process, stating that the government in Nicosia "does not comment on publications related to confidential decisions of the Cabinet or matters related to purely personal data."

The reasons for the passport revocations included false declarations, criminal backgrounds, and failure to meet naturalization requirements. The total number of revoked passports has risen to 286.

The "golden visa" scheme, established in 2013, brought Cyprus about €7 billion. The largest participants in the program were citizens of Russia and China, and the resort city of Limassol became known as "Limassolgrad," as a significant portion of the real estate is owned by Russians.

For decades, the Mediterranean country built an economy that catered to Russians and gained a dubious reputation as a channel for illegal money flows. Over the last decade, the country has made significant progress in addressing these issues, but the process accelerated after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

At the beginning of this year, the U.S. and Cyprus announced strengthened cooperation to enhance Cyprus’s capabilities to combat and prosecute illegal financial operations with the support of the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI.