"'I am ashamed of my country' Billionaire with 3 trillion won fortune renounces Russian citizenship"

Igor Makarov, Chairman of Russian Gas Company

Russian billionaire Igor Makarov has recently reportedly renounced his Russian citizenship. He is the founder of the Russian gas company Itera and serves as the chairman of Areti, an energy company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

On the 29th (local time), the Russian edition of Forbes in the United States reported that Makarov gave up his Russian citizenship this year and currently holds only Cypriot citizenship. Cyprus is a small island country located in the eastern Mediterranean of West Asia. In the global billionaire rankings selected by Forbes, he was also mentioned as a "Cypriot billionaire" rather than a Russian one.

Earlier, the Cypriot daily Politis introduced Makarov as one of the foreigners who received so-called "golden passports" in exchange for investments between 2008 and 2012.

Cyprus implemented a "golden passport" system granting citizenship to wealthy investors but suspended it in 2020. At that time, holding Cypriot citizenship allowed free movement within the 27 member countries of the European Union (EU) and the ability to deposit money in European bank accounts, making it highly popular among global businesspeople. After the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, Cyprus became a preferred settlement destination for Russians leaving their homeland due to its easy immigration procedures and low taxes.

Igor Makarov, Chairman. [Image source=Twitter]

Makarov was sanctioned by the UK, Canada, and others following the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in February last year, and it is understood that he has been living in Cyprus, Florida in the United States, and northern Italy in recent years. His current estimated net worth is $2.2 billion (approximately 2.9 trillion KRW), and he ranked 57th in this year’s list of Russian billionaires.

Forbes reportedly asked Makarov’s spokesperson about his position on renouncing citizenship but received no specific response. Besides Makarov, it is known that five other Russian oligarchs, including Oleg Tinkov, founder of the Russian online bank Tinkoff, have renounced their Russian citizenship following the Ukraine crisis.

In particular, Tinkov stated on his Instagram upon renouncing his Russian citizenship, "I do not want to be associated with a fascist state that wages war against peaceful neighbors and kills innocent people every day, and I never will." He added, "I hope more prominent Russian businessmen will follow me."

Meanwhile, Makarov founded Itera in 1992 and has been involved in gas development in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in northern Russia since 1998. He sold Itera in 2013. Currently, he serves as chairman of Areti, which invests in various business sectors including energy and sports.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.