Two children of Russian oligarch Abramovich obtained Lithuanian passports and helped their father circumvent sanctions - OCCRP investigation
Arkady Abramovich, 30, and his sister Anna Abramovich, 30, were granted Lithuanian citizenship and used it to help their father, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, circumvent sanctions.
This conclusion was reached by investigators of OCCRP, an international anti-corruption journalism organisation specialising in investigating the work of government agencies in different countries. Censor.NET reports this with reference to "Current Time".
The journalists learned about the passports of Abramovich's children thanks to the leaked documents of the offshore service provider MeritServus. This Cyprus-based company has been managing Abramovich's assets for over 20 years.
According to the investigators, Abramovich's eldest son Arkady received a Lithuanian passport on 22 February 2022 - two days before the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is not known when Anna Abramovich received the passport.
The journalists did not find any real estate or companies in Lithuania for Arkady and Anna Abramovich. They assume that passports are the only assets of the Russian oligarch's children in this country. The Lithuanian Department of Foreign Affairs refused to provide information on whether Abramovich's children have passports of this country.
Journalists point out that the oligarch's children used Lithuanian passports to help him circumvent sanctions. Three weeks before the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Abramovich transferred assets worth at least $4 billion to his seven children.
Abramovich himself visited Lithuania in 2018. At the time, the media speculated that he was trying to obtain Lithuanian citizenship. Abramovich's grandparents lived in Lithuania in the 1940s, and his grandfather was among thousands of Lithuanians deported to Siberia.
Abramovich is also a citizen of Israel and Portugal.
