Montenegro Renews Plan to Offer Passports to Investors

Montenegro's government plans to offer citizenship to foreign investors who are willing to invest in the country, especially in the undeveloped north.

The government on Thursday said it was preparing an "economic citizenship" package designed for foreign investors, and the scheme would begin on October 1.

Montenegrin passports will be available to investors who invest 250.000 euros in undeveloped regions in the north, or 450,000 euros in developed regions in the centre and south.

The number of passports granted through this program is limited to 2,000 in the next three years. The government will charge a fee of up to 100,000 euros per application.

"The fee will be directed to a special fund for the development of underdeveloped areas," it said on Thursday.

The programme will be managed by a special government agency that will hire pre-approved marketing agents. Agents will be in charge of the promotion of the programme and attracting interested investors.

This new program is part of an effort to attract more foreign direct investment, FDI, which has dropped in the past few years.

Thanks mostly to Russian investments, Montenegro recorded almost billion euros of FDI in 2007, but that figure started dropping in 2010.

This is the third time Montenegro has launched an "economic citizenship" offer. In 2010, the government announced plans to sell passports to "renowned businessmen of credible reputation" if they invested at least half a million euros.

The project had to be suspended until the measure was harmonised with European Union regulations.

Concerns were raised about transparency and accountability in 2015, when the government revealed new plans to sell passports to "renowned businessmen of credible...