Coming from Viareggio in Italy the superyacht Polaris sailed into Malta's Grand Harbour in early March 2021. The Russian oligarch Maxim Shubarev, who bought Maltese citizenship in 2018, bought the Malta-flagged Polaris in 2021 (details here). Some 10 people were on board but we do not know whether Shubarev was on the vessel. A few days later The superyacht left Malta destined for Turkey.

The EU and the US said that they would be taking measures to stop Golden Passport schemes for Russians as part of the sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Consequently, Malta had to suspend the scheme for Russians and Belarusians in a dramatic change of stance. The suspension applies to Malta's citizenship-by-investment scheme and a residency through investment scheme.