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In the cover letter for his 2015 application, former PetRoNeft owner Roman Trushev cited Malta's European Union membership, stable economy, educational opportunities and climate, among reasons to purchase Maltese passports for himself and his extended family. They received their Maltese passports in 2016.

The oil contamination crisis

Mr Trushev has not returned to Russia since the country's prosecutors lodged criminal conspiracy charges against him related to polluted oil from one of his plants that contaminated oil exports to Europe. He told media that prosecutors were “looking for scapegoats” and that the amount of oil his company delivered was too small to do this much damage. The so-called contamination crisis has reportedly cost the country billions of dollars.

In his response to a request for comment, Mr Trushev said that he had created his company's operations from a “clean field”, building a large plant within eight years and carried out many “social programs” in the Samara region, where the oil refinery was located, only for the company to be “raided and taken away by Putin's friends”. He also said that, “The essence of the criminal charges against me is that I contaminated oil in the Druzhba export pipeline through oil assets that not only did not legally belong to me at that time, but also I had nothing to do with their management.”

International arrest warrant - political persecution?

Russia has issued an international warrant for Trushev's arrest, while a co-accused has been granted asylum in Lithuania. Asked to comment, Mr Trushev said that INTERPOL has determined “that my persecution was politically ordered by the Russian authorities, associated with the oil assets that were taken away from me by the existing regime in Russia” and that he does not appear on the agency's wanted list for that reason. INTERPOL does not comment on specific cases or individuals so this information could not be verified directly.

“Genuine links”

In his letter of intent Mr Trushev had said that he planned to spend “no less than 14 days in the country during my first year of residency”. Asked about his current links to Malta, Mr Trushev said that he has “economic interests” in the country relating to real estate, but declined to provide more detail. He said that he had visited Malta many times before applying for a passport, and visited during the application process and after receiving his passport. He also said that he had bought an apartment in St Julian's for €560,000 which he lived in with his family. He added that he sold the property in 2018 as part of his real estate business, and has since “been renting a large apartment”. It remains unclear how much time Mr Trushev and his family spend physically residing in Malta.

PetRoNeft is not to be confused with PetroNeft Resources plc. Henley & Partners does not comment on “potential past or existing client relationships”. The firm says it is “committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations.”