The Latvian authorities are considering the issue of depriving Peter Aven of his citizenship

The security authorities of Latvia are assessing whether there are grounds for revoking the Latvian citizenship of the Russian businessman, co-owner of “Alfa-Bank” Peter Aven, who was put on the European Union’s sanctions list after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This was reported by the Latvian mass media and the Bloomberg agency on Monday.

The information was confirmed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Latvia. It is reported that the inspection has been going on for some time, and the conclusion of the security services is currently expected.

In April of last year, the Seimas of Latvia adopted amendments to the law on citizenship, which allows to retain the Latvian citizenship of persons who have a passport of another country and who have provided any support to countries and persons “who have committed actions that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of democratic state” – we are talking about Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Aven received Latvian citizenship in 2016 – he had the right to it, since his grandfather was an ethnic Latvian, and he himself successfully passed the language exam. In 2012, the billionaire was awarded the Latvian Order of Three Stars. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the chapter of the order decided to leave Aven the order.

Aven was included in the sanctions list of the EU and Great Britain as “an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin”. He himself objects to such a characterization and challenges the sanctions in court. Aven, despite the sanctions, continues to live in Great Britain.

• On Monday, it became known that the Latvian Citizenship and Migration Office made a decision to revoke the citizenship of Benes Ajo, an activist of the National Bolshevik Party, which is banned in Russia. Since 2014, he has participated in military operations in Ukraine on the side of separatists supported by Russia, now, according to him, he is also at the front, “serving in intelligence on the territory of the Zaporozhye region.”
• The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Latvia stated that Ayo had previously received Russian citizenship – he reported this himself. He has been living in Russia for many years, in Latvia he was declared wanted. At the same time, he said that he was “outraged” by the decision to take away his Latvian citizenship and intends to file a lawsuit in the “international court”.