Cyprus says it will strip its citizenship from four more Russian billionaires as the European Union member continues to pull passports from those who have fallen under the bloc's sanctions over Moscow's unprovoked war against Ukraine.
Deputy government spokeswoman Niovi Parisinou said in a written statement on April 20 that 11 members of the billionaires' families will also lose their citizenship in the move.
In line with government policy, the names of those affected were not released, but according to local media reports on April 21, Russian tycoons Oleg Deripaska and Igor Kesayev; Grigory Beryozkin, the owner of the newspaper Komsomolskaya pravda and RBK media-holding; and Gulbakhor Ismailova, a sister of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, will lose their Cypriot citizenship, along with 11 of their dependents.
The EU has imposed sanctions on more than 1,000 Russians since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
The four billionaires and members of their families received Cypriot citizenship through a so-called Golden Passport program that allowed investors to obtain passports of the EU member. Almost 3,000 Russians have participated in the cash-for-passports scheme.
Deripaska obtained his citizenship in 2017 and Ismailova in 2015, while Beryozkin and Kesayev received their Cypriot passports in 2012.
Last week, Cypriot media reported that four other Russian billionaires -- Mikhail Gutseriyev, Aleksandr Ponomarenko, Vadim Moshkovich, and Aleksei Kuzmichyov -- will be stripped of the Cypriot citizenship on the same grounds.
The Golden Passport program was closed in Cyprus amid corruption allegations in October 2020.
Four More Russian Billionaires Blacklisted By EU To Lose Cypriot Citizenship
Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska obtained his Cypriot citizenship in 2017.