ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Most of the foreign nationals who were granted Grenadian citizenship in the first six months of this year under the island’s Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program are from Russia, Richard Duncan, the Chairman of the Citizenship by Investment Committee has said.
Under the CBI, foreign investors are given citizenship in return for making a substantial contribution to the socioeconomic development of Grenada.
From January to June 2023, the Grenada government approved 2011 persons to be granted citizenship, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Finance in August.
“The overwhelming majority, maybe 90 percent of the applicants approved so far are in the area of Russian nationality,” Duncan said during an interview with the weekly television program “The Bubb Report.”
The Grenada CBI program was officially launched in 2014 and has earned millions in revenue for the island.
Duncan described the first six months of 2023 as a windfall, with the island earning revenue of EC$157 million (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) from approved applicants.
In March this year, Oleg Frier, Grenada’s former ambassador to the Russian Federation, had his license revoked among the list of international marketing agents allowed to conduct business on behalf of the island’s Citizenship by Investment Programme.
“The Grenada Citizenship by Investment Committee advises that Mr. Oleg Firer is not a licensed Marketing Agent, nor a registered sub-agent of the Grenada Citizenship by Investment Programme,” said a notice on the updated website of the CBI program.
“He is therefore not authorized to market, promote or disseminate information on the program, nor act on behalf of, or engage with current or potential applicants, or their authorized representatives,” said the Notice. There are 59 international marketing agents for the CBI program.
As of April 1st this year, Grenada stopped accepting applications from Russia and Belarus, joining North Korea, Iran, and Palestine as states worldwide that are banned from participating in the local CBI program.
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