The founder and chief executive of Russian search engine Yandex, known as the “Google of Russia”, is one of over 700 wealthy Russians who have purchased Maltese citizenship through the Individual Investor Programme (IIP). 

Arkady Volozh’s name appears in the recently-published list of naturalised Maltese citizens for 2016, as do the names of his his son Timothy and daughter Anna-Esther. Also listed as Maltese citizens are Yuri Abramovich Volozh and Sifra Leibovna Volozh, who – according to a website which has seen the Russian entrepreneur biography – could be Arkady Volozh’s parents.  

Yandex is Russia’s largest Internet company and the most popular search engine in the country, commanding some 54% of Russian online searches. It also owns an eBay-like online marketplace Yandex.Market and an Uber-like taxi service Yandex.Taxi.

Malta’s cash-for-citizenship scheme has proven immensely popular amongst wealthy Russians. Indeed, according to research by Russian media group RBC, 730 Russians have purchased Maltese citizenship in the past three years.

Other new Russian-Maltese citizens include:

Alexander Natanovich Nesis – founder of private equity firm ICT Group, which used to own the gold and silver mining giant Polymetal. 

Boris Mints – owner of the major investment company O1 Group, 

Vladimir Anatolievich Semenikhin – Russian founder of Stroyteks, one of the largest construction firms in Moscow.

Leonid Viktoryvich Korotkov – A former governor of Amur Oblast in Siberia in Russia, who was sacked by Vladimir Putin in 2007 for alleged abuse of power.

Enver and Vasily Kuzmin – CEO and administrative manager of Russian real estate firm Restavracia 

Leonid Viktoryvich Korotkov was sacked as governor by Vladimir Putin in 2007 for alleged abuse of power

Alexey De-Monderik – co-founder of major Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, whose products were recently banned within the US government over fears of the company’s links to Russian state-sponsored spying programmes.

Roman Evgenievich Trushev – chairman of Petroneft – a Russian group of oil refinery companies. 

Alexander Mechatin – Russian CEO of Beluga Group, Russia’s largest private spirits company  

Vitaly Georgievich Yakovlev – CEO of major Russian electricity generating company Mosenergo, a subsidiary of Russian gas giant Gazprom. 

Alexey De Monderik co-founded the Russian cybersecurity provider Kaspersky Lab

Alexey Alexandrovich Marey – Former CEO of Alfa Bank Russia, the largest private bank in the country.

Andrei Melnikov – Director of engineering at uranium mining company Uranium One Holding N.V.

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.

Have you spotted some interesting names in the list of naturalised Maltese citizens? If so, you can e-mail us in confidence at [email protected] 

READ NEXT: Meet The New Maltese Citizens (Who May Or May Not Have Bought A Passport)

Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]