22 March 2019 - We expect to have the first applications for Montenegrin Citizenship by the Investment Programme by the end of this year, while the Programme itself will be entirely in place in 2020, head of the Secretariat for Development Projects, Dejan Medojević, said in an interview with Dnevne Novine daily.
The Montenegro Citizenship by Investment Programme started on 1 January 2019, and it will be limited to 2,000 investors over three years. According to Medojević, there will not be a place either for those working with dirty money nor persons of interests to the security services in this Programme.
“On behalf of the Government of Montenegro, the Secretariat has launched the Citizenship Programme. Before this, the Government had defined requirements that an investor must comply with to get economic citizenship. This is not about the general sale of passports but rather an important development project for Montenegro,” said Medojević.
He reminded of the investment requirements, that is, 100,000 EUR donation in a Government Funds plus.
“The money will be allocated to the less-developed local self-government units and will be spent primarily on infrastructure and facilities which will bring some value to the north of the country,” pointed out Medojević.
On the selection procedure for the applicants Medojević explained that the special mediation agents would first check all of them, then the international credentials agents and then auditors who will be checking whether the money is paid as was planned. Finally, when the Secretariat says that they (investors) have met all the requirements, Prime Minister Duško Marković is to send his proposal to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to put whatever controls it can in place, but, of course, following the Law on Citizenship.
“So, the final controls are to be taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and National Security Agency,” concluded Mr Medojević, adding that they will do everything they can “to grant citizenship to most suitable applicants, willing to invest in the development of Montenegro.”
Source: Cafe del Montenegro
