Meet The New Maltese Citizens (Who May Or May Not Have Bought A Passport)
Finding out exactly who purchased Maltese citizenship through the Individual Investor Programme (IIP) in 2016 is quite tricky, as their names have once again been concealed within the entire list of naturalised Maltese citizens for that year.
With a little help from our readers, Lovin Malta has managed to glean some interesting names from the list of 2,200 people – which could well include IIP citizens.
We have no way of knowing whether the people mentioned below have been naturalised or bought a passport. The government had been unable to confirm the identity of these names, so there is also a chance that these people are only namesakes of the Maltese passport holders.
Eldar Mahmud Garibov – the majority shareholder of Unibank, one of the largest private banks in Azerbaijan.
Enver and Vasily Kuzmin – CEO and administrative manager of Russian real estate firm Restavracia
Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin – Russian founder of Stroyteks, one of the largest construction firms in Moscow. Also president of the Ekaterina Cultural Foundation, which organises art exhibitions in Russia.
Eldar Garibov, majority shareholder of Azeri bank Unibank
Alexey De-Monderik – co-founder of major Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab. Kaspersky software products were recently banned within the US government over fears of its links to Russian state-sponsored spying programmes.
Alexey Alexeevich Kirienko – Russian CEO of Exante, a Malta-based investment brokerage firm. Exante hit local headlines three years ago following accusations it had benefitted from leaked inside financial data, but has since been cleared of all charges.
Roman Evgenievich Trushev – chairman of Petroneft – a Russian group of oil refinery companies.
Alexey De Monderik co-founded the Russian cybersecurity provider Kaspersky Lab
Sheikh Ibrahim Waleed Alibrahim – Saudi media mogul and founder of the Middle East Broadcasting Company (MBC), which operates TV and radio stations and news portals all across the Middle East. Was recently arrested as part of a corruption crackdown by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Abdullah Al Fozan – chairman of the Saudi branch of ‘Big 4’ audit firm KPMG
Adib, Fahad, Tawfiq and Waleed Abdullah Al-Hamad Al-Zamil – directors of Saudi investment firm Zamil Group
Sheikh Ibrahim Waleed Alibrahim
Hussain Dawood – Pakistani tycoon who owns Engro, one of the largest companies in Pakistan with interests ranging from natural gas to the production of food and fertilisers.
Toufic Kreidich – Co-founder and CEO of Brands for Less, a United Arab Emirates – based chain of stores selling discounted branded clothes.
Marwan Kaddoura – CEO of Lebanese bank CSCBank SAL
Rajni, Bimal and Baiju Kantaria – chairman and directors of Kenya agricultural company Elgon Kenya Ltd
Pakistani tycoon Hussain Dawood
Alexander Natanovich Nesis – Russian founder of private equity firm ICT Group, which used to own the gold and silver mining giant Polymetal. Ranked by Forbes as one of the 1000 richest people in the world.
Alexander Mechatin – Russian CEO of Beluga Group, Russia’s largest private spirits company
Shehbaz Yasin Malik – owner of Pakistani pharmaceutical company Hilton Pharma
Mohammed Ahmed Al Balawi – Chief financial officer of Saudi construction firm Bawan
Alexander Natanovich Nesis – one of the richest people in the world
Vitaly Georgievich Yakovlev – CEO of major Russian electricity generating company Mosenergo, a subsidiary of Russian gas giant Gazprom.
Basel Algadhib – Saudi businessman whose portfolio includes stints at Riyadh Bank, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, the Gulf Investment Corporation and Saudi Aramco – the wealthiest company in the world.
Sabah Mohammad Mutlaq Al-Mutlaq – vice chairman of Saudi construction firm alfanar Group
Mohammad Naeem Mukhtar – chairman of Pakistani bank Allied Bank Ltd and CEO of Ibrahim Fibres
Vitaly Georgievich Yakovlev – CEO of Russian power generating firm Mosenergo
Vigen Badalyan – Armenian founder of Malta-based igaming company BetConstruct. In the early 1990s, helped his father and brother build Armenia’s first private petrol station.
Mohammad Naeem Mukhtar – chairman of Pakistani bank Allied Bank Ltd and CEO of Ibrahim Fibres
Elena and Anna Rybolovleva – ex wife and daughter of Russian tycoon Dmitry Rybolovlev, the owner of AS Monaco. Elena made world headlines four years ago when she and Dmitry broke up and her lawyers requested a world record divorce fee of $4.5 billion. The final settlement was never disclosed, but a Swiss court awarded Elena Rybolovleva $560 million shortly before the final settlement.
Elena Rybolovleva (right) and her ex-husband Dmitry
Can you spot any other interesting names on the list of new Maltese citizens or would you like to clarify some points about this list? If so, please email us at [email protected]
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