Will Russian investors come back to Spain..!!

Dear Collaborators,

With recent events in Russia and Ukraine certain criteria’s have altered the way investment in Europe has changed and is changing dramatically.

2021 saw Spain grant around 1,000 Golden Visas to Russian investors and their families (minimum investment 500k Euros), out of a total of around 8,000 on average each year and with main Russian banks which have been disconnected from the SWIFT system, individuals connected to the Government will be banned from travelling and residency permits will not be granted to applicants in this list.

So whilst ordinary Russian investors will be allowed to come to Spain, the limitations for this to happen are obvious:

• Devaluation of the ruble.
• Capital controls within Russia.
• Impossibility to transfer funds due to sanctions on banks through the regular channels.
• Restrictions to carriers flying from and to Russian.
• Reluctance of Spanish banks to open accounts to ordinary Russians due to PR concerns.

There is a precedent that we are very familiar with: Iran, and Iranian investors:

• Iran was sanctioned by the EU initially (2012-2016), and further by Trump’s administration (2018-). SWIFT was and has been disconnected ever since.
• As with Russian, interest rates have reached double digits (25%) and the currency lost around 5 times its value. As of January 2022, Iranian rial is the currently the second weakest circulating currency in the world after Venezuelan bolivar.
• Although to a lesser degree of international condemnation, the Iranian regime has been isolated.
• Investors from Iran have still been able to invest in Spain, circumventing sanction to banks. Still, Spanish banks have not wanted to defy US sanctions and for the most part, rejected opening accounts to Iranian citizens.
• Spain has granted thousands of EU-residency cards to ordinary citizens from Iran.
• Funds have been sent to Spain via alternative transfer channels.

It is unlikely that Russian investors will be able replicate the Iranian experience, such is the scale of the international condemnation.

?Russian investors are poised to disappear altogether in the short/medium term.?

Lets watch this space.

?Many thanks,?

Gary Newsham.

Business Development Manager

E-mail:?[email protected]

Homepage: www.lawbird.com