Two Russian oligarchs close to Putin are in process of obtaining Portuguese citizenship

Portugal is considering granting citizenship to two Russian oligarchs linked to Putin, Alexander Smuzikov and Alexander Kaplan; this process began in 2020.

Source: Observador, the Portuguese news outlet

Details: Both businessmen hold Comunidade Israelita do Porto (CIP) certificates and are awaiting citizenship under Sephardic Jews law.

The oligarchs close to Putin made their fortunes from oil. Smuzikov, who is ranked 143rd in Forbes' ranking of Russia's wealthiest people, became rich primarily through the sale of TNK-BP, which became one of the ten largest private oil companies in the world.

Later, the company was bought by the Russian state-owned oil corporation Rosneft for €813 million. The oligarch is still one of the largest collectors of Russian art, with an estimated fortune of €547 million, and he is mentioned in the Pandora Papers.

Kaplan served as Vice President for Refining and Trading at TNK-BP. He is under Ukrainian sanctions for supporting Putin and providing financial assistance to the Russian president, as he is one of the principal shareholders of the Stavropol-based Prombudbank.

Smuzikov and Kaplan are founders and partners of the Moscow-based company Sanora-Rus, which supposedly provides accounting services.

The Sephardic Law granted Portuguese citizenship to the descendants of the ancient Sephardic Jewish community, who were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 11th century. The law expired at the end of 2022.

According to the Portuguese newspaper Público, Smuzikov and Kaplan have already received a positive opinion from the judicial police.

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