CHARLESTOWN, Nevis – PREMIER of Nevis, the Hon. Mark Brantley has vehemently condemned an article in the UK-based Guardian newspaper, which sought to discredit him and the Federation in its claim that European Union blacklisted Russian lawyer Andrei Pavlov is a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis.
The article, headlined ‘Calls for Europe to review border controls after blacklisted Russian visits 70 times’, was written by Juliette Garside and published on Friday, May 24, 2019.
Brantley said the article does not offer any evidence to substantiate its claim but “seeks to discredit by innuendos”.
According to The Guardian, two Members of the European Parliament, Ana Gomes and Marietje Schaake, had written to the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, calling for immediate curbs on visa waivers for St. Kitts citizens after it emerged that Pavlov, who was blacklisted since 2014, had visited the EU 70 times over the past four years
The Guardian claimed that the two MEPs reportedly told Juncker: “We urge you to consider terminating the visa-free status program with St. Kitts and Nevis,unless their authorities can provide full confidence that individuals, such as Mr. Pavlov, are not slipping through the cracks, allowing them access to the European Union.”
The newspaper also said: “The Moscow-based lawyer is alleged to have played a central role in the theft of $230m (£182m) from the city’s tax office. A subsequent cover-up involved the imprisonment, torture and killing of the whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky”. And that Pavlov denied all wrongdoing.
The Guardian further said, “The case, which has embroiled the current premier of the Caribbean island of Nevis, raises fresh concerns about the golden passports trade. Countries in the Caribbean – including St. Kitts and Nevis – are offering citizenship for cash to individuals seeking easy access to EU member states. Their passports, which confer visa-free travel to the EU for up to 90 days, are popular with individuals wanting to skirt travel restrictions.”
The newspaper stated that according to widely leaked emails. just before the European Parliament had blacklisted Pavlov, he had taken steps to purchase a Caribbean passport. But Pavlov said he did not acquire a passport from St. Kitts and Nevis “and claims to have only ever held citizenship of Russia and the Soviet Union”.
It also stated that in January 2014, an intermediary acting for Pavlov had approached Brantley, who was at the time Leader of the Opposition in Nevis, and that, by email, the now Premier had referred the intermediary to his law firm, Daniel Brantley & Associates, saying, “We can help.”
“Two months later, on 11 March 2014, Pavlov contacted the firm in person, explaining: ‘I am interested in your service in obtaining St. Kitts and Nevis economic citizenship and would like to proceed,’” The Guardian reported.
The Guardian further reported: “Pavlov needed the passport, he said, because he was involved in litigation in the eastern Caribbean supreme court and wanted to avoid visa difficulties when travelling to the region. He hoped to have the necessary documentation ready within three weeks.
“If rules of the program allows I would like to apply for myself and three dependents including my wife,” Pavlov added.
Brantley, The Guardian reported, said his firm had received an inquiry which did not lead to any work for the firm and that there was “no evidence” Pavlov had obtained citizenship from St. Kitts and Nevis.
The Guardian also reported Pavlov as saying in an email statement: “I have never applied for or granted any citizenship other than Russian. I don’t have any plans to acquire St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship. I am not intended to comment whether I had these plans a years ago. After December 2017 I never instructed any professional in order to obtain any foreign citizenship for myself.”
In response to The Guardian’s innuendo-laced article, a press from the Office of the Premier categorically stated the Russian lawyer is not a citizen of the twin-island Federation.
“Mr. Pavlov is not and has never been a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis”, and that “through an intermediary, an inquiry was made to the law firm, Daniel Brantley, co- founded by Mr. Brantley in 1997. Other than seeking information, Mr. Pavlov is not and has never been a client of the law firm”.
This information, among others, was made clear to The Guardian’s reporter, Juliette Garside, during a telephone interview on Wednesday, May 22, 2019.
The release added: “The article does not and cannot offer any evidence to the contrary. It however seeks to discredit by innuendos. Its basic implied premise, and the complaint to the European Union by MEP's Ana Gomes and Marietje Schaake, is that the referenced request for information on a legitimate citizenship program and that Mr. Pavlov might have managed to ‘enter the EU over 70 times’ are somehow linked to St. Kitts and Nevis. This is completely and utterly false as Mr. Pavlov does not hold and has never held a passport from St. Kitts and Nevis. His purported entries into the EU therefore have absolutely no connection with St. Kitts and Nevis.”
It further stated that Premier Brantley said to the reporter: “The record must reflect that St. Kitts and Nevis elected a new government in February 2015. That new government undertook a comprehensive review and overhaul of the country's citizenship programme in 2015. St. Kitts and Nevis now has the most stringent due diligence requirements in the world. All incidents cited by the article are pre-2015.”
The Premier of Nevis also reportedly said that as a small developing country, St. Kitts and Nevis values greatly the excellent relationship it has with the European Union, and would continue at all times to be a stable, reliable and trustworthy international partner.
