Controversial businessman Sergei Polonsky said he might seek Cambodian citizenship once he is released from jail there because he is intent on doing construction business in the country.
As part of his plan, he promised to build a multimillion-dollar resort in Cambodia as penance for his scandalous behavior.
Polonsky, who now owns Russian real estate holding Potok, sent a letter last week to the king of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk, apologizing for the trouble he had caused, said Sergei Vladi, the former head of foreign projects at Potok.
He added that Polonsky also apologized to the citizens of Cambodia and complained about bad conditions in the local prison.
"He also said he would ask the king to grant him citizenship after his name is cleared from the crimes that he didn't commit," Vladi quoted the letter as saying, Interfax reported.
Vladi said the king's office had confirmed receiving Polonsky's letter.
In the letter, Polonsky also promised to invest millions of additional dollars into the country's economy "to help Cambodians create a better life," Kommersant reported Monday.
His company, formerly known as Mirax Group and , built a luxury hotel on the Cambodian island of Koh-Dek-Koul.
The businessman said that he plans to start a project "of global significance" in Cambodia and that he hopes the project will serve as "a worthy apology to Cambodians," the report said.
Polonsky was detained in Cambodia on Dec. 30 for shooting off fireworks on an uninhabited island and not showing ID when he was asked by the military to do so.
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