Roman Abramovich's two children, 30-year-old Arkadiy and 31-year-old Anna, obtained Lithuanian citizenship, as reported by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (OCCRP) and the Lithuanian Center for Investigative Journalism Siena. The information about the passports of the oligarch's children became known from leaked documents of the offshore company "MeritServus," based in Cyprus, which has been managing Abramovich's assets for over 20 years.
According to investigators, Abramovich's elder son, Arkadiy, received a Lithuanian passport on February 22, 2022, two days before the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The date when Anna Abramovich obtained her passport is unknown.
Lithuanian investigators did not find any real estate or companies directly owned by Arkadiy and Anna. They believe that Lithuanian passports are the only assets of Roman Abramovich's two children in Lithuania. The basis on which the passports were issued is unknown. The Lithuanian Migration Department stated that it does not have the right to comment on the issue of Abramovich's son and daughter's passports as they are not public figures.
Journalists note that the Lithuanian passports of Arkadiy and Anna were used for operations typically seen as attempts to bypass sanctions. In January of this year, The Guardian reported that Roman Abramovich transferred assets from trusts associated with him to his seven children approximately three weeks before the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, totaling around $4 billion.
The restructuring of trusts may complicate efforts to impose sanctions on the oligarch and potentially hinder attempts to freeze the assets he owns. Journalists emphasize that sanctions against Abramovich have been imposed only by the European Union and the United Kingdom, with no inclusion of the oligarch in the U.S. sanctions list.
Since 2018, when Abramovich visited Lithuania, there were speculations in the media that he was attempting to obtain Lithuanian citizenship. Lithuania allows citizenship for descendants of those who had it before the country was occupied by Russia in 1940. Abramovich's paternal grandparents lived in Lithuania in the 1940s, and his grandfather was among thousands of Lithuanians deported to Siberia, where he died.
In May 2018, Abramovich encountered issues with his residency permit in the United Kingdom (he was residing in the country on the basis of a long-term business visa). Later, he was granted Israeli citizenship under the "Law of Return" due to his Jewish roots. The Israeli passport gives him the right to enter the United Kingdom visa-free, which is a key center for his business interests.
In 2021, Abramovich obtained Portuguese citizenship under the law of naturalization for descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula during the medieval inquisition. An investigation into the granting of his citizenship was initiated in January 2022.
