Profile

Vadim Vasilyev is a former Soviet-era diplomat who served at the USSR embassy in Iceland between 1987 and 1990. In 2013, he joined the Monégasque football club AS Monaco FC, run by his friend Dmitry Rybolovlev, where he served as CEO and Vice-President until 2019. He now runs his own Monaco-based firm, VV Consulting.

‘Links’ to Malta include football jerseys and a donation worth as much as a small car

In 2014, Vasilyev applied to buy Maltese passports for himself and his family in 2014. In the process of securing a Maltese passport, Vasilyev visited the training grounds of an amateur football club in 2015 and donated football jerseys worth less than €500. He also donated €15,000 to a children's charity in Malta run by a religious order.

In his application, Vasilyev included a letter from a nun from the religious order thanking him for the donation which would allow the charity to start repairs on a playroom and expressing the hope that “the Lord will send some other benefactor” to provide the rest of funds they needed to complete the work. The donations were noted in Vasilyev's application as evidence of his “genuine links” to Malta.

One letterbox for seven flats

Flight tickets and a car rental invoice with no amount on it, provided in Vasilyev's application pack and accepted as evidence of residency by Identity Malta, show that he spent fewer than five days in Malta. When the Passport Papers photographer visited Vasilyev's leased address in Sliema in March 2021, she found the letterbox was being used for seven different flats. Photos of the flat Vasilyev leased which were kept on file by Henley & Partners show a cramped and shabby interior with cheap furnishings.

A meeting with the Prime Minister

During one of his visits to Malta, Vasilyev met with the then Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat. In comments to one of the consortium partners, Vasilyev said that he was told by Henley & Partners that Muscat occasionally met with “selected applicants” and that, as a football fan, he would be interested to meet Vasilyev. According to Vasilyev, the meeting centred on football events and ways to improve the sport in Malta. Muscat did not comment directly about meeting Vasilyev but said that his meetings with passport applicants “would be introductory ones promoting investment in Malta and would be followed up, where necessary, by the competent authorities.”

Vasilyev has set up two companies in Malta to hold and operate his assets. He told a member of this consortium that he chose Malta over other jurisdictions because the country allowed him to realise his dream of becoming a European citizen. His second trip to Malta was in March 2016 to collect documents. It was set to last less than two days and included a meeting at the “sports ministry”. He received a Maltese passport a few months later. He now visits the island “from time to time”.

Dmitry Rybolovlev, President of AS Monaco, did not respond to a request for comment.