Cyprus has Earned EUR 5 Billion from the Sale of Citizenship

For 10 years, 1685 people have invested in exchange for Cypriot citizenship. The island has earned nearly 5 billion euros, according to BGNews.

Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska has bought Cypriot citizenship in 2017, the British newspaper Guardian reports. The authorities of Aphrodite Island have given the citizenship of the magnate under the scheme for wealthy investors. Deripaska's first attempt to obtain a Cypriot passport was unsuccessful due to a money laundering investigation organized by Belgium in 2015. Later, the businessman provided the Belgian authorities with a statement about the absence of any claim to it and, on the basis of it, his request was met .

He is one of the hundred wealthy Russians and Ukrainians who have received Cypriot citizenship. His name surfaced in Cypriot documents after the country's parliament asked the interior ministry for data on investors who had received citizenship. 

Early in January, it became known that hundreds of wealthy Russians received citizenship of Malta. The EU has repeatedly criticized the practice of selling passports, arguing that the authorities of these countries have not always carefully scrutinized the origin of the funds. Malta and Cyprus are members of the Shengen area, and their citizens can easily travel to all EU Member States. In addition, Maltese and Cypriot citizens can visit dozens of countries around the world without visas.