The consortium of the British company Henley and partners Government Services and Fragomen LLP, the Canadian Arton capital, the Canadian APX, Shanghai Oversize and the Cypriot ATS submitted bids to the second call of the Government for the development of the economic citizenship program, "Vijesti" learns.
Six offers were submitted to the new public invitation of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism for the development of the economic citizenship program, which was announced on June 7.
The public invitation stipulates that the bidder submits a written statement that the Montenegrin Government can use the proposed concept integrally or part of it, without special consent and without payment of compensation.
The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, headed by Pavle Radulović, recently informed "Vijesta" that the competent Commission will review the submitted models and create a program proposal that will be submitted to the Government for consideration and adoption.
The first call for the development of the economic citizenship program did not succeed and at the beginning of April the Ministry rejected the offers of two consortia. Even then, the offer was submitted by a consortium consisting of the British companies Henley and partners Government Services and Fragomen LLP, as well as the Chinese Shanghai Overseas Chinese Exit-Entry Services. The second applicant was the Canadian-American consortium Arton-Ipsa.
The justification for canceling the tender was that the applicants did not meet the requirements for the development of the economic citizenship program. The Ministry announced the first international public call on November 28 last year.
In the first invitation, it was clearly defined what the program should contain, then that the Government will make a decision on the selection of the bidder and authorize the commission to start negotiations with the selected bidder. It was foreseen that the contract with the selected bidder would be signed for 36 months, its revision every 12 months and the possibility of extension for a maximum of 36 months under the conditions defined in the contract.
At the end of July last year, the Government adopted the Decision on the method, procedure and criteria for the selection of bidders for the development and implementation of a special investment program on the basis of which one can acquire Montenegrin citizenship.
In recent years, at the suggestion of former Prime Ministers Milo Đukanović and Igor Lukšić, President Filip Vujanović and former President of the Assembly Ranko Krivokapić, Montenegrin passports were distributed, even to people suspected of criminal acts in their countries.
Among the "famous Montenegrins" are the former Palestinian minister Muhamed Dahlan, whom the Palestinian authorities suspect of embezzling hundreds of millions from state funds, and the former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was convicted of corruption in that country.
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