The coronavirus pandemic has slowed down the implementation of the economic citizenship project, but it has not been interrupted, and out of 28 applications, a decision was made on the fulfillment of the conditions for obtaining a Montenegrin passport for six.
This was said by the director of the Investment Agency (Montenegro investment agency - MIA) Dejan Medojević in an interview with "Vijesti".
MIA was formed after the entry into force of the Law on Private-Public Partnership (adopted at the end of last year) and took over all the tasks, obligations and documentation of the Secretariat for Development Projects, which was abolished.
The Government's Decision on the criteria, method and procedure for selecting persons who can acquire Montenegrin citizenship by admission for the implementation of a special investment program of special importance for the economic and economic interest of Montenegro applies from January 1, 2019.
Based on this decision, which will be valid for three years, it is possible to issue a maximum of 2.000 Montenegrin passports.
Hardly up to 15 million
In this year's budget, it was projected that about 15 million euros would be poured into the state coffers based on this project, but considering the current health and economic crisis, it is difficult to expect income in that amount.
"The epidemic caused by the corona virus, of course, as well as all other segments of the economy, affected this program in part. It is slowed, but not interrupted. However, as the Agency was informed by the licensed mediation agents, (which are renowned international companies with developed contacts in the global market) the interest in the program is still high. The preparation of applications is carried out in a planned manner, although the main limitation is the closed borders. Everything else functions mostly smoothly," Medojević explained.
As he said, the MIA, in the capacity of the competent body, provided all administrative conditions for smooth reception and processing of applications in the previous year, and licensed mediating agents work on program promotion, preparation and submission of applications for acquiring citizenship.
When asked whether the planned projection of 15 million euros in this year's budget will be revised and how much money can be generated from this project this year, Medojević explained that it is ungrateful to give forecasts due to the current epidemiological situation.
"The program defines that, per request, the minimum investment obligation is 100 thousand euros for the development of less developed municipalities and a minimum of 250 thousand or 450 thousand for investing in one of the projects from the List of Development Projects (depending on the region in which the investment is made). The program is limited to 2000 requests. It is ungrateful at this moment to forecast how many applications we will have, especially if we take into account the current epidemiological situation in the world related to the emergence and spread of the corona virus," Medojević pointed out.
Investments in tourism
He said that since the entry into force of the decision on the method and procedure of selection of persons who can acquire Montenegrin citizenship by admission, i.e. from January 1, 2019, MIA received a total of 28 applications - i.e. requests to acquire Montenegrin citizenship - in the previous period.
"Currently, a decision has been made for six applications on the fulfillment of the conditions for acquiring Montenegrin citizenship, while six applications have not entered the procedure, and the reason is the negative opinion of the agent for the assessment of international suitability. All other applications are in the processing stage, and one of the steps in the processing procedure is the assessment of international eligibility by licensed agents engaged for this purpose, which includes the verification of the origin of the money intended for investment. So far, a Montenegrin passport has not been granted for any of the mentioned applications, taking into account the epidemiological situation, which resulted in the closing of the borders," Medojević pointed out.
He reminded that the processing procedure foresees the verification of fulfillment of the conditions given by the decision, then the verification of international suitability, after which, in the case of receiving a positive opinion on international suitability, a check by national institutions, ie the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"Received requests refer to six projects that are on the list of development projects for the field of tourism, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism (MORT). This ministry has published a public call for expressions of interest to qualify projects on the list of development projects in the field of tourism, which is still open," Medojević said.
How to acquire citizenship
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 the purposes of investing in one of the development projects in Podgorica or the coastal region, or an amount of at least 250.000 euros for the purposes of investing in one of the development projects in the northern or central regions 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.
One of the conditions is that a foreigner can apply for Montenegrin citizenship who has not been convicted in Montenegro or another country and for whom the international suitability assessment agent gave a positive opinion, including proof of the origin of the money intended for payment and investments in accordance with the Government's decision.
If it is subsequently established that a person who acquired Montenegrin citizenship by admission in accordance with the decision provided false information or deliberately concealed facts and circumstances, as well as in the case that the agent for the evaluation of international suitability for that person provided incorrect information in his report, a decision will be issued on loss of citizenship.
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