BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – NEWS reaching this publication states that a Russian national and founder of social network Vkontakte, Pavel Durov, has acquired citizenship of St. Kitts and Nevis shortly before fleeing his country of birth.
According to The Moscow Times, Durov, who was last week fired from his position as Vkontakte’s CEO, “received a St. Kitts and Nevis passport by contributing $250 000 to the Caribbean nation’s sugar industry in February”.
The Russian media house stated that that information, reported by Izvestia on Monday, was obtained from an unidentified source close to Vkontakte’s shareholders.
Moscow Times also stated that, according to the source, Durov’s brother, Nikolai, who worked as a technical director at Vkontakte, is also seeking citizenship of St. Kitts and Nevis through a similar investment programme.
It further stated that the source said after Durov was fired, “he apparently travelled from Russia to the United Arab Emirates, where he holds a long-term residence visa”.
It is reported that Durov said he had resisted months of increasing pressure from the Federal Security Service, or FSB, to release personal information about opposition activists who use Russia's most popular social network, and that he learned about his dismissal from media reports.
He is also reported as saying that the social network would now fall under the “full control” of Kremlin-linked Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin and Vkontakte billionaire shareholder Alisher Usmanov.
“Something like this was probably inevitable in Russia, but I am glad that we held on for seven and a half years," Durov said on his Vkontakte page. "We managed to do a lot. And part of what has been accomplished can no longer be turned back.”
Durov said last week that he sold a 12 percent stake in the company back in January after coming under increasing pressure from the FSB to hand over the personal details of people who were members of a Vkontakte group dedicated to the Euromaidan protest movement.
Moscow Times noted that the term ‘Euromaidan’ has become synonymous with the protesters who helped organise demonstrations in Kiev against the government of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, eventually leading to his ouster in February.
“To give the personal details of Ukrainians to the Russian authorities would not only be against the law, but also a betrayal of all those millions of people in Ukraine who trusted us,” Durov reportedly said last week. “The freedom to disseminate information is an inalienable right of a postindustrial society.”
Durov also reportedly said that he was asked in March to shut down a Vkontakte group dedicated to anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, but he refused to do so.
According to the St. Kitts and Nevis Citizenship-by-Investment Programme website, successful applicants could become citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis through either of the two options: The Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation - by making a non-refundable contribution of US$250 000; or the Citizenship-by-Investment Real Estate by investing US$400 000.
