The economic citizenship program “Citizenship by Investment”in Montenegro will be in effect until the end of 2021 and will not remain in force. Montenegro’s designated Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić said he plans to change the country’s economic development direction.
“We want to replace the existing economic citizenship program with a program for citizenship for highly qualified workers,” says Krivokapić.
Speaking about economic development, Krivokapić said he would carefully compile a list of shortage vacancies and then begin pre-qualifying staff in line with the real needs and forecasts for labor market development.
In less than two years, the previous government of Duško Marković added14 projectsto the list of development projects that are candidates for economic citizenship.
Recall that the law on the program for granting Montenegrin citizenship was introduced in November 2018. The program is designed for 3 years, and the number of applications is limited by quotas — 2,000 quotas.
Experts believe that Krivokapić is influenced by events in Malta and Cyprus due to the European Commission’s decision. The European Commission announced proceedings against these countries over the “golden passport” scheme. Cyprus suspended the project, and Malta responded that its program would soon be abolished and replaced by new residence rules.