Four applications for economic citizenship are being checked

The Secretariat for Development Projects (SRP) received a total of four applications for the acquisition of a Montenegrin passport under the Government's economic citizenship program and is currently checking them.

The SRP officially told "Vijesta" that for the first application they received in October, after review, they submitted a request for supplementing the missing documentation in accordance with the Law on Administrative Procedure.

"That's why the final decision, that is, the processing of the application, depends on the above and it is not possible to precisely determine the expected completion time. Three more applications have been submitted to the secretariat, which are also in the process of processing".

The Secretariat did not provide the names of the applicants. It was explained earlier that the application contains personal data of persons who are not citizens of Montenegro and which cannot be made public.

"The program for acquiring Montenegrin citizenship through investment is proceeding according to the expected dynamics and in accordance with the foreseen procedures", said the Secretariat.

The government's program of economic citizenship started in January of this year and the SRP manages that project. The executive branch promised that the names of all those who receive a Montenegrin passport through the program will be available to the public.

A total of 2.000 passports will be available. The government's plan is for those interested in a Montenegrin passport to invest in the development of projects in the field of tourism, agriculture and processing industry, i.e. in projects for which the government gives its consent.

As part of tourism projects, the government approved in June the project to build a hotel in Kolašin, whose investor is the company "Kolašin Resort & Spa", founded in 2016 as a joint stock company. The founder of that company is the company "Oriental Management Ina", owned by Mohamed Abdul Alim Kovduri.

According to data from the Central Registry, "Oriental Management Inc" is an off-shore company from Malaysia.

Owner representatives on the board of directors of the company "KolašinResort & Spa" and potential new Montenegrin citizens are Rowshan Ara Chowdhury, Mohammed Abdul Alim Chowdhury and Salim Chowdhury Nirjhor.

The company "Kolašin Resort & Spa" is planning the construction of a four-star hotel complex in Kolašin, with an estimated value of 11.360.959 euros. They also state that the realization of the investment will create opportunities for 66 new jobs

At the beginning of this month, the executive authority accepted three more projects in the field of tourism, on the basis of which investors will be able to obtain economic citizenship. The project of the company "CG Resort", backed by Russian investors, for the construction of a hotel in Kolašin was accepted, as well as the proposal of "Adriatic properties" by Wei Seng Pol Pu with the hotel "Kraljičina plaža" in Miločer and the company "Durmitor hotel and villas" by Petros Statis. with the hotel "Durmitor" in Žabljak. The documentation states that Pua proved that he has more than 20 million euros in his account at Universal Bank, and Statis has more than 10 million euros in his bank. The two already have Montenegrin citizenship, so the question arises whether they are now looking for it for one of their companies through this project.

The applicant can acquire citizenship if he has deposited 100.000 euros in the ESCROW account for the development of less developed municipalities, for the purpose referred to in Article 18 of the Law on Regional Development. He can also acquire it if he has paid at least 450.000 euros to the ESCROW account for investment in one of the development projects in Podgorica or the coastal region, or an amount of at least 250.000 euros for investment in one of the development projects in the northern or central region of Montenegro, except Podgorica. The applicant must deposit 15.000 euros for himself, 10.000 for up to four family members and 50.000 for each subsequent family member.