Cyprus to strip citizenship from another four sanctioned Russians

Cyprus is revoking citizenship from four sanctioned Russians, authorities said on Wednesday, bringing the number of passports pulled from people for links to the Kremlin to eight this month. More than 1,000 Russians have been sanctioned by the bloc. European Union-member Cyprus gave citizenship to 2,886 Russian nationals, among them investors and their families, from 2007 to August 2020 in a now discredited cash-for-passports scheme.

Cyprus is revoking citizenship from four sanctioned Russians, authorities said on Wednesday, bringing the number of passports pulled from people for links to the Kremlin to eight this month. Passports would also be revoked from their families, deputy government spokeswoman Niovi Parisinou said in a written statement. The names of the individuals were not disclosed, in line with government policy.

Cyprus's cabinet on April 7 decided to revoke citizenship from four Russians for being on a list of individuals sanctioned by the European Union over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and considered close to Vladimir Putin. More than 1,000 Russians have been sanctioned by the bloc.

European Union-member Cyprus gave citizenship to 2,886 Russian nationals, among them investors and their families, from 2007 to August 2020 in a now-discredited cash-for-passports scheme. They were among 6,779 people who received citizenship from the east Mediterranean island for a minimum 2 million euro ($2.17 million) investment. A later commission of inquiry found the scheme had run in a legal vacuum for more than a decade without adequate oversight. It was discontinued in Nov. 2020.

($1 = 0.9206 euros)