According to a report by Público, Roman Abramovich was not
the only Russian oligarch to obtain Portuguese naturalisation under Sephardic
law. The newspaper reports that Andrei Rappoport also has obtained Portuguese
passport. With a fortune estimated at €1.2 billion by Forbes, the billionaire
born in the former Soviet republic of Ukraine in 1963, presided over Alfa-Bank
between 1992 and 1996.
In the early 2000s, he transferred to Yukos and began
overseeing Russia's state-owned energy companies, becoming chairman of the
board of the giant Federal Grid Company. Six years later, he took control of
Energostroyinvest-Holding, which was at the time the largest builder of
electricity grids and thermoelectric plants in Russia and which had important
contracts with the FGC.
Público claims that Andrei Rappoport obtained a Portuguese
passport on December 30, 2019, one and a half years before Abramovich got Portuguese
nationality, also by order of the then Secretary of State for Justice, Anabela
Pedroso. All were certified as Sephardic Jews by the Comunidade Israelita do
Porto (CIP).
In turn, the Russian oligarch and former vice president of
the World Jewish Congress, God Nisanov, and the "king of diamonds"
Lev Leviev are waiting for Portuguese naturalisation.
Recently, Blinken described Nisanov as “one of the richest
men in Europe” and “a close collaborator of several Russian authorities”,
having been honoured in the Kremlin in July 2014 by Putin with the Order of
Friendship. On June 26, 2020, he applied for Portuguese naturalisation at the
Conservatória dos Registos Centrais, having presented a certificate issued by
the CIP proving his Sephardic origins.
Portugal must be very careful with this. Most are Putin allies no matter their Sephardic ancestry. were they threatened for being Jewish ten of course they must be accepted, but now, mixed feelings. Portugal should not fall into the money trap.
By Jacques De la Haye from Other on 22 Jul 2022, 09:48
Yes the gold visa program has worked well. Lots of desirable people from countries such as russia and china. None of them have criminal ties and none are corrupt lol
By mooseman from Alentejo on 22 Jul 2022, 11:31
All these Russian Ogligarchs have a very shady history. Who funded the movement to allow ancestors of Sephardic Jews into Portugal? Answer Roman Abrhomvich! The rabbi in Porto has been arrested on corruption charges. Portugal would be reckless in letting them in.
By David Clark from UK on 24 Jul 2022, 09:42