"Golden Passports" of Cyprus

07.09.2020 The Cypriot newspaper Politis has published a list of holders of "golden passports" who received citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus in exchange for investments in the period from 2008 to 2012. The publication included 34 citizens of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Syria in the list of persons with suspicious passports. Earlier, Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades said that the Cypriot authorities intended to deprive seven holders of "golden passports" of citizenship. It was felt that there were shortcomings in the passport acquisition program, which contributed to abuse persons applying for the citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus. Citizenship applications were made when citizens were politically exposed or worked for the companies that were under sanctions. In this regard, measures were taken to improve the effectiveness of control mechanisms over the observance of the legality of the procedure for obtaining citizenship. A specialize committee is already investigating 30 individuals with a view of identifying the violations of any criteria. Source link: https://politis.com.cy/politis-news/kypros/idoy-i-epistoli-anastasiadi-me-ypoptes-politografiseis-epi-christofia/