Roman Abramovich has been granted Israeli citizenship, Israel's Ministry of Interior has confirmed.
The Russian-Jewish billionaire flew into Israel on Monday morning by private jet and to be given identity papers and, most significantly, an Israeli passport.
The move means Mr Abramovich will now be able to enter the UK and other European Union countries because no visa is required for Israeli passport holders.
He had been prevented from entering Britain in recent weeks because the visa on his Russian passport had expired and there had been a “delay” in its renewal.
The Chelsea FC owner even had to miss the FA Cup final in which his team beat Manchester United.
The naturalisation makes Mr. Abramovich has become Israel’s wealthiest citizen at a stroke: he is worth $11.5 billion (£8.7 billion) according to Forbes, catapulting him past Eyal Ofer, the previous most wealthy Israeli, who is worth $9.3 billion.
The steel magnate is seen as close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and it is unclear whether the delay in issuing him with a visa was due to the tensions between Britain and Russia over the Sergei Skripal poisoning affair.
Sources close to Mr Abramovich said he always planned on emigrating to Israel, although the UK visa situation seems to have acted as a catalyst.
In 2015, he bought the Varsano boutique hotel in Tel Aviv’s Neve Tzedek neighborhood, which he is converting into his Israeli home, from Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot’s husband Yaron Varsano and his brother Guy for £21 million.
A frequent visitor to Israel, Mr Abramovich has many investments in the country, mainly in high-tech startups.
He is also a major donor and earlier this year gave $20 million (£15.1 million) to the nuclear medicine facility at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan.
There were conflicting reports about Mr Abramovich’s whereabouts after he received his Israeli paperwork.
Some newspapers said he had opened a bank account in Herzliya and stayed overnight at a Tel Aviv hotel, while others claimed he had flown out Monday afternoon.
Either way, Mr Abramovich is expected to continue spending most of his time in Russia.
