Amid the political scandal over Cyprus’ citizenship-for-investment program, the Cypriot government has released more names of wealthy individuals, including prominent Ukrainians, who probably should not have received so-called “golden passports.”
The list of 34 individuals — Russians, Ukrainians, Syrians and Azerbaijanis — was published by the Politis news website on Sept. 6.
According to Politis, a total of 141 applications for citizenship were approved in 2008-2012. Out of them, 34 individuals were considered as “high-risk” since, at the time of their applications, they were either politically exposed people possibly implicated in corruption, were on international sanctions lists or were accused or convicted of crimes, mainly fraud.
The government released the list in response to harsh criticism from opposition parties over the management of the program to show that Cypriot citizenship had been granted to dubious candidates before the election of incumbent President Nicos Anastasiades in 2013.
Oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, his wife Iryna, his daughter Anzhelika and his long-time business partner Gennadiy Bogolyubov had their Cypriot passport applications approved on the same day in June 2010.
When he obtained his Cypriot passport in January 2011, energy tycoon Kostiantyn Grygoryshyn held Russian citizenship. The Ukrainian-born businessman became a Ukrainian citizen in 2016.
Olena and Vitaly Haiduk, owners of the Ukrainian Milk Company, the largest dairy farm in Europe, became Cypriot citizens in 2011 and 2014, respectively. In the 1990s and 2000s, Vitaly Haiduk was a high-ranking government official and a shareholder in the Industrial Union of Donbas, a major Ukrainian metallurgical company. His wife Olena was a shareholder at Namawka Diamonds, which mined diamonds in Africa.
Another couple on the list, Mykhailo Kiperman and Alyona Gaivanenko, got their Cypriot passports in 2013 and 2016, respectively. Kiperman was a member of the supervisory board of Ukrnafta, a state-owned enterprise, between 2003 and 2017 and an associate of Kolomoisky. His wife is a former model.
Big investigation
The Cypriot government has faced significant criticism after Al Jazeera published an investigation into its investment scheme that allowed foreigners linked to crime and corruption to receive the European Union member state’s passport in 2017-2019.
During the investigation, Al Jazeera looked into over 1,400 leaked passports applications approved by the Cypriot government between 2017-2019. Journalists found that several dozen people who acquired passports were not eligible for them in the first place. They were either convicted criminals, political figures accused of corruption or people wanted for various crimes.
Among them were two Ukrainians who are wanted by Ukraine: Mykola Zlochevsky, the country’s former minister of ecology and owner of the Burisma Holding energy firm, and tycoon Vadim Shulman, who is under investigation for alleged money laundering.
After Al Jazeera’s investigation was published, Cyprus formed a four-member committee to investigate whether Cypriot citizenships granted in exchange for investment between 2007 and 2020 complied with all government criteria and laws. The committee has three months to conduct its investigation, with the possibility of an extension, the Cyprus Mail reported.
The Cypriot government also said it would strip seven people of their “golden passports,” according to AFP.
Long-standing scheme
The citizenship-by-investment program in Cyprus has existed since 2002.
However, before 2013, it was more expensive. To get a passport, an individual was required to invest at least 10 million euros in property or business.
The 2013 financial crisis forced Cyprus to lower the sum to 3 million euros that year, and to 2 million euros in 2016.
Under pressure from the European Union, the Cypriot government promised to tighten the rules and review applications with more scrutiny.
