Malta has revealed the names of the holders of the « golden passports»

The government of Malta has published a list of more than three thousand people who received citizenship in 2019 in exchange for investment. Among the holders of the "golden" passports are not only wealthy foreign citizens, but also the full namesakes of several Russian businessmen. For example, the billionaire from the Forbes list, as well as the founder and co-owner of the manufacturer of roofing materials "Technonicol" Sergey Kolesnikov, who confirmed the fact of obtaining Maltese citizenship and justified its existence by the need to conduct business abroad. The list of" lucky ones "also included the founder of the Petrovich repair goods chain, Andrian Melnikov, the son of the former president of Rosneft, Sergey Bogdanchikov, the general director of the energy trader Rusenergosbyt, Andrey Zinoviev, and a number of other Russian citizens.

Recall that more recently, the European Commission said that the granting of citizenship in exchange for investment creates risks for the European Union of money laundering, as well as tax evasion on the territory of the European Union. In addition to Malta, Cyprus and Bulgaria also provided citizenship in exchange for investment, but since November 2020, this program has been suspended in Cyprus.

Link to source: https://www.gov.mt/en/Government/DOI/Government%20Gazette/Documents/2020/12/Gaz%20Government%20Gazette%20-%2031st%20December.pdf