Montenegro lures businessmen with citizenship offer

Montenegro (AP):

Montenegro will offer its citizenship to wealthy businessmen who invest more than €500,000 (US$662,650) in the tiny Adriatic country, the government said yesterday.

The so-called 'economic-citizenship programme' is designed to attract leading world business-men into moving their companies to Montenegro, a small Balkan country of just over 600,000 people, said a government statement posted on the official website.

As Montenegrin citizens, inter-national businessmen would enjoy benefits such as lower taxes and costs for their companies.

Montenegro is the first country in the region to introduce such a programme, and thus hopes to lure more investors than other Balkan nations, the statement said. The move underscores Montenegro's openness to foreign investment, it added.

Tiny Montenegro became independent in 2006 after splitting from Serbia, and is now seeking membership in the European Union. Montenegro saw a major surge in foreign investment, mostly from Russia, immediately after the independence, but this has recently slowed down due to global economic crisis.

Former thai PM among them

Montenegro already has granted citizenship to former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who fled corruption charges at home and who has promised to invest in Montenegrin tourism. The government has argued that there has been no international arrest warrant for Thaksin.

Apparently seeking to avert fears of possible abuse, the government said that only businessmen with "indisputable and credible biography and financial means" can apply. It said that "all applicants will be checked according to most strict international standards" and in consultation with international advisers.