How businessmen renounced Russian citizenship – Picture of the Day – Kommersant

Billionaire Ruben Vardanyan decided to refuse from Russian citizenship and move to Nagorno-Karabakh amid the escalation of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In 2021, the businessman took 116th place in the list of the richest people in Russia. Which of the businessmen and under what circumstances renounced the citizenship of the Russian Federation – in the certificate of Kommersant.

In October 2011, a Georgian businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili filed an application for voluntary renunciation of Russian citizenship. The media wrote that the businessman took this step because of his forthcoming participation in the parliamentary elections in Georgia. The application was granted in December of the same year. In 2012, Mr. Ivanishvili was elected a deputy, and then became the Prime Minister of Georgia.

A native of Kharkov Pavel Fuks for ten years he was one of the largest developers in the Moscow region, a banker and an investor. In particular, he was one of the co-owners and heads of Ingeocom, MosCityGroup, Pushkino banks, Sovcombank, etc. In 2019, the businessman was put on the wanted list for theft during the construction of Sky House residential complex in the center of Moscow since 2008. According to the investigation, Pavel Fuks left Russia for Ukraine by train back in 2015. In 2017, the businessman renounced Russian citizenship and handed over his passport at the consular department of the Russian Embassy in Ukraine.

In November 2016, a Georgian entrepreneur, former top manager of SFK Group and Lufthansa Service Holding Giorgi Gakharia renounced Russian citizenship. According to the Georgian publication Sova, he did this 13 days before his appointment as Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia.

In June 2022, the founder of the investment company Freedom Finance Timur Turlov announced that he had renounced Russian citizenship. In return, he received a Kazakh passport. According to media reports, he and his family have been living there for about ten years.

Some businessmen in different years asked not to be called Russian citizens. In particular, the founder of VKontakte and Telegram made such a request in April 2022. Pavel Durov, which the in recent years lives in Dubai. In 2021, he received French citizenship, and he also has a passport from the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis (an island nation in the eastern Caribbean).

Among other businessmen who do not want to be associated with Russia:

• Brothers Igor and Dmitry Bukhman. In 2004, they founded the mobile games developer Playrix in Vologda, and in 2013 they moved the business to Ireland. In 2016, they emigrated to Israel, whose citizens they were asked to call them. Now they live in London.
• Co-founder of Revolut Nick Storonsky (at birth – Nikolai Storonsky). Born and raised in Russia, left at the age of 20. His representative said that the businessman is a British citizen.
• Evgeny Shvidler, partner of Roman Abramovich and head of investment company Millhouse. An unnamed “companion” of the businessman told Forbes that Mr. Shvidler “is not and never was a citizen of the Russian Federation.” The entrepreneur was born in Ufa, but, as the magazine clarifies, “technically he never had a Russian passport.” Since 1994 he has been a US citizen, in 2010 he received British citizenship.
• Investor Leonard Blavatnik. A native of the Ukrainian SSR, he emigrated to the United States in 1978 at the age of 21. Forbes claims that the businessman “got rich in partnership with Viktor Vekselberg.” According to the magazine, Blavatnik has invested in Warner Music, petrochemical company LyondellBasell and the Tory Burch label, and made large donations to Stanford, Harvard and Oxford universities. His representative told the magazine that the businessman “is not a Russian and never was and is not an oligarch.” He has US and UK citizenship.
• Yuri Milner, whom Forbes calls “the most influential technology investor in Russia”. Born in Moscow. His website states that he has been an Israeli citizen since 1999. Lives in California since 2014. Since the same year, according to the businessman himself, he has not been to Russia and has no assets in the country.