Ksenia Frank, daughter of billionaire Gennady Timchenko, received Finnish citizenship bypassing the usual procedure, Helsingin Sanomatreports . The processing of the application, which was submitted by her parents in 2000, was contrary to the decision of the Peace Service. Frank was 14 at the time.
According to the publication, as a result, Frank received a Finnish passport in just a few months, although this procedure usually takes several years. A year earlier, Xenia's parents, Gennady Timchenko himself and his wife Elena, received Finnish citizenship.
The Timchenko family requested that the application for citizenship for their daughter be considered in an expedited manner, but the Finnish Migration Service replied that there were no grounds for an expedited consideration. However, less than a month later, the service issued a positive decision on the request, and Xenia received Finnish citizenship.
In response to a request from Helsingin Sanomat, the migration service stated that they could not say what the decision was due to:
“The person who made the decision no longer works in the service, so it is impossible to get a definite answer why Xenia’s application for citizenship was processed faster.”
In early February, the Finnish agency STT reported that Gennady Timchenko himself received Finnish citizenship with violations, he did not pass the check of the country's security police.
In both cases, the decisions were made when Matti Saarelainen held the position of head of the Migration Service. According to the Finnish press, he was approached by a business partner of the Russian billionaire Kai Paananen and asked to expedite the procedure for the family.
Now Ksenia Frank is under sanctions from the United States, Japan and Canada.