FT: What are Nigel Farage's allies doing in "beautiful" and "cheap" Montenegro?

Nigel Farage's allies have built significant business and political interests in Montenegro, whose prime minister wants to turn the country into a center for the crypto industry, the British newspaper Financial Times (FT) writes today in the article "What are Nigel Farage's allies doing in 'beautiful' and 'cheap' Montenegro?"

Among the people from the circle of the UK's Reform Party leadership who have established a presence in Montenegro in recent years are crypto-industry billionaire Christopher Harborne, party board member Gawain Towler, former Reform treasurer Mehrtash Azami and long-time associate George Cottrell, the FT writes.

The outlet says registration documents show that Harborn, whose £5m donation to Farage prompted a parliamentary inquiry into compliance with standards, registered a company called "Longevity Biotech Systems" in the coastal town of Tivat in 2023, shortly before crypto investor Milojko Spajić's party won Montenegro's parliamentary elections.

Tauler, Farage's former communications chief, registered a company in Tivat around the same time. He told the FT that he and other Reform Party associates were interested in Montenegro because it was "beautiful" and "cheap".

That same year, Azami also registered the company "Maxim Enterprise" in that city. Azami ran the British crypto company "Crypto Concierge" between 2021 and 2022, before it was shut down.

Farage's ties to the crypto industry have come under scrutiny following the revelation of an unreported donation from Harborne. The Reform Party leader has denied that the money has in any way influenced his policies, which include strong support for digital currencies.

Spajić is an even bigger advocate for the industry, expressing hope that cryptocurrency mining and trading could one day account for almost a third of Montenegro's gross domestic product, the FT article says.

Some of Farage's long-time associates, but not Harborn or Azami, have been linked to the successful campaigns of Spajic's party - the Europe Now Movement (PES) in 2023.

Their alleged support is unusual, given that Spajić advocates for Montenegro's entry into the European Union (EU). Farage's other connections across Europe are almost exclusively with parties that oppose Brussels, the British newspaper writes.

The crypto industry, however, represents a common ground.

The Reform Party wants a regulatory “Big Bang 2” to turn the UK into a “crypto-hub.” Harborn, a major investor in cryptocurrency issuer Tether who has lobbied for the industry, is the party’s biggest donor.

Farage said the £5m gift was purely personal and that Harborn had asked for nothing in return for it or his donations to the Reform Party. He has been pushing for a by-election this week, seeking to end media and parliamentary scrutiny.

Cottrell, a Farage associate who was imprisoned in the United States for fraud, has been living in Montenegro for several years. Montenegrin officials have linked him to cryptocurrency dealings, and such allegations were made in a case before the High Court of England. He denies these connections.

Local media reported last year that Cottrell's political consulting firm, Geostrategy, which has offices in Montenegro, had prepared content with advice to Spajic on how to maintain his popularity, the FT article says.

Cottrell's lawyers said the content was "general in nature" and "misrepresented" or "misconstrued."

Andrej Milović, former Minister of Justice in Spajić's government, claimed in 2024 that Cottrell secretly financed the election campaign of the then candidate.

Cottrell's lawyers said he had not donated to either Spajic or PES and was prevented from doing so because of his citizenship. They added that the allegations were part of a "politically motivated disinformation campaign."

Chris Bruni-Lowe, former campaign director of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) when it was led by Farage, claimed to have come up with Spajic's 2023 election slogan "It's Time." Bruni-Lowe has worked for parties on both the left and right since leaving UKIP.

Tauler said he worked under contract for the PES campaign, providing "strategic media advice" and preparing content for social media.

The ties between Farage's associates and Montenegro appear to date back to the period after 2017, when Cottrell was released from prison in the US.

Cottrell, nicknamed "Gentle George" because of his aristocratic background, began using Montenegro as a base. Farage was photographed in Tivat in 2019 with Cottrell, whom he described as "like a son" to him.

Cottrel is the owner of the Tivat-based company "Private Family Office", founded in 2020.

Harborn registered the company "Longevity Biotech Systems" a few weeks after the presidential election that brought Spajic's party to power. Before the company became inactive earlier this year, Harborn was its CEO, the FT reports.

Private jet flight records published online show that Harborne-linked planes have made at least nine trips to Montenegro in the past three years, including a flight on May 6, 2023, from Biggin Hill Airport, which is not far from Farage's family home. Two of the flights took place in September 2025.

Harborne representatives did not respond to requests for comment, according to the FT.

The media outlet also writes that Tauler said that Cottrell invited him to visit Montenegro in 2020, after he expressed concern about alleged harassment of the Orthodox Church in that country.

Cryptocurrency regulation was one of the key contentious issues in Montenegrin politics around 2023, due to the arrest in that country of Do Kwon, the South Korean businessman behind the failed cryptocurrency company Terraform Labs.

Later, a US court document emerged showing that Spajić was one of the first investors in Terraform Labs. Do Kwon subsequently pleaded guilty to fraud in the US and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

In June 2023, after PES came to power but before Spajić was appointed Prime Minister, the Montenegrin government seized a cryptocurrency-to-cash machine at the "Salon Prive" casino in Tivat.

The casino, shaped like the sleek superyachts docked nearby, employs hostesses who check passports, or their photos, before allowing members access to the gaming machines and VIP room.

A sign outside the connected beach bar states that clothing is optional, but relaxation is, with the message: "What happens here, stays here."

Such a device was not allowed in Montenegro because the country did not have appropriate regulations governing the crypto industry, media reported at the time, citing the Ministry of Finance. Aleksandar Damjanović, then-Finance Minister, told local media after the raid that the device was "linked to Kotrel."

Cottrell's lawyers stated that the "raid" was actually an inspection conducted by the Treasury Department and denied that he had anything to do with "any crypto ATM at the Salon Prive casino."

Gustaf Sander, a Swedish businessman whose registration documents show he was the CEO of Cottrell's Private Family Office from November 2020 to October 2022, was described in reports from a press conference held in June 2022 as the casino's CEO and director.

Cottrell's lawyers said Sander did not work for the two companies at the same time. Sander did not respond to a request for comment. Neither Salon Prive nor the Reform Party responded to requests for comment.

Montenegro has also attracted the attention of members of Donald Trump's MAGA movement.

Trump's nominee for ambassador to Serbia, Mark Brnovich, met with Spajić in Tivat in 2024, and has also met with Farage several times, according to photos posted online.

Brnovich was the Arizona attorney general at the time Cottrell was serving his prison sentence there. In his book, "How to Follow the Money: A Guide for Police, Prosecutors, and Policymakers," Cottrell describes Brnovich as a "mentor."

Brnovic's nomination for ambassador was eventually withdrawn, and he died of a heart attack earlier this year, his family said. A YouGov poll published on Friday found that 73 percent of Britons, including 40 percent of Reform Party voters, now consider Farage a sleazebag.

The next parliamentary elections in Montenegro are due to be held no later than June next year. Earlier this year, Geostrategy advertised for a political analyst and artificial intelligence strategist in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro.

Those jobs would not be "tied to any specific campaign," Cottrell's lawyers said.