Russian billionaire Grygoryshyn to receive Ukrainian citizenship
Konstantyn Grygoryshyn, a Russian billionaire of Ukrainian origin who is accused of tax evasion in Russia, will receive Ukrainian citizenship. The report of the State Migration Service of Ukraine on the official website of the Migration Service has indicated the possibility.
Grygoryshyn Konstantyn Ivanovych, a citizen of the Russian Federation and of the Republic of Cyprus, turned to one of the divisions of the Migration Service with an application for citizenship in Ukraine in a simplified manner due to the fact that he was born within the territory of Ukraine.
Together with the appropriate application, all the necessary documents were provided including the commitments to renounce citizenship in the Russian Federation and in the Republic of Cyprus, the Migration Service noted.
They also stressed that the presence of any criminal proceedings against a person within the territory of Ukraine or the Russian Federation are not grounds for refusal to grant Ukrainian citizenship by territorial origin. "The implementation of the right to acquire citizenship of Ukraine by territorial origin is a subjective right, depends on the will of the person and cannot be limited by the government,” the message stated.
Grygoryshyn, a native of Zaporizhzhia, owns assets in Ukraine. He is a major shareholder of PJSC Sumy Machine-Building Science and Production Association named after M. V. Frunze. Grygoryshyn also owns a 75% stake in the largest Eastern Europe manufacturer of transformers, Zaporozhtransformator, as well as energy companies in Ukraine. According to Forbes, in 2015 Grygoryshyn was ranked 75th in a list of Russia's richest businessmen with a net worth of $1.1 billion.
In November 2015 the Head of Interior Ministry of Ukraine, Arsen Avakov, announced the investigation into cases against Grygoryshyn. A month later, he said that such cases do not belong to the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry and neither do the alleged financial violations of PJSC Sumy NPO and Ukrenergo. It was reported that Grygoryshyn, who is accused of tax evasion of nearly 675 million rubles in Russia, began to compensate losses to the Russian budget.