Commission of the Saeima of Latvia approves ban on issuing residence permits to Russians
The commission of the Saeima of Latvia on defense, internal affairs and corruption prevention on Tuesday, October 21, approved amendments to the immigration law that provide for a temporary suspension of issuing residence permits to Russian citizens in exchange for investments, Delfi reports. Most members of the commission supported the amendments and the proposal to entrust the decision on suspending the issuance of residence permits to citizens of Russia or other countries to the cabinet of ministers.
In early October, the Saeima of Latvia for the first time supported the proposal of the National Alliance party to stop issuing residence permits to Russians under the investment immigration program due to the situation in Ukraine. Then, 48 deputies voted for the transfer of the bill to the commissions for further consideration, 28 representatives against, and four abstained.
The authors of the bill stated that the purpose of the amendments is to eliminate threats to the state, citing 'Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, threatening peace throughout Europe.'
Earlier, the Security Police concluded that Russians who obtain residence permits may influence political and economic processes in Latvia. Full or partial resumption of issuing residence permits to Russians is provided for in the event of the cessation of 'Russia's violation of international legal norms in carrying out aggression against Ukraine,' as well as if security considerations allow it, noted the initiators of the changes.
The amendments to the immigration law will continue to be considered by the newly elected Saeima, but this does not bode well for Russians: the pro-Russian party is losing its positions.
In the recent parliamentary elections, the opposition party Harmony, led by the first Russian mayor of Riga, Nils Ušakovs, received just over 23% of the votes. In second place was the ruling party in Latvia, Unity, which received 21.87% of the votes, third was the Union of Greens and Farmers, which received 19.53% of the votes. The Russian Union of Latvia party failed to overcome the five-percent barrier to enter the Saeima, but the initiator of the amendments, the National Alliance, which also advocates for the deportation of Russians, took fourth place.
For comparison, three years ago in the elections, Harmony enjoyed greater support. Then the votes of today's leaders were distributed as follows: 28% for Harmony, 19% for Unity, and 12% for the Union of Greens and Farmers. Meanwhile, Unity was third in popularity, and the Union of Greens and Farmers was fifth. According to the results of the previous elections, Harmony received 31 seats in the Saeima, now it will get only 24 – that is just one seat more than Unity.
Latvia's decision to restrict the participation of Russians in investment immigration programs for political reasons is the first of its kind. 'However, other countries are unlikely to follow Latvia's example, and Latvia itself is doing this more for self-promotion. Most likely, the law on canceling the issuance of residence permits to Russians in exchange for investments will ultimately not be adopted or will be adopted with a large number of reservations,' believes Igor Indriksons, real estate investment manager and founder of Indriksons company.
According to Irina Simonyan, marketing director for Russia and the CIS of Henley & Partners, all other European countries, on the contrary, are developing their programs and are interested in attracting investments from Russia, because the market hides great potential.
Latvia traditionally attracted Russians who planned to change their place of residence. Latvia's program was interesting to Russians due to the low entry cost, cheap real estate, geographical proximity, and language.
At one time, the Saeima of Latvia decided to issue residence permits for real estate investments, hoping that this would help the economy recover from the crisis. Initially, to qualify for a residence permit in Latvia, it was necessary to buy real estate in Riga or other major cities of the republic for at least 143,000 euros. From September 1 of this year, the minimum investment amount almost doubled, to 250,000 euros regardless of the region, and the popularity of the program among Russians fell. If earlier several dozen purchases were made per month, then in September only five transactions were completed.
Over four years of the program, the total amount of investments in the Latvian economy amounted to 600 million euros, with about 80% of all investments coming from Russians, says Maria Ananyeva, an analyst at the audit and consulting group Gradient Alpha. This figure includes funds from real estate market transactions and investments in business.
'Depriving Russians of access to this program because of Ukraine could lead to negative consequences, primarily for Latvia itself,' the expert is confident. She also recalls that the leader of the Harmony party, Nils Ušakovs, on the contrary, has repeatedly stated that Russia should be attracted to the Latvian market, and has also criticized the sanctions that the European Union imposed in light of the crisis in Ukraine. Nevertheless, it will be possible to predict in which direction Latvia's policy towards Russians wishing to purchase real estate will change after the government is finally formed in the country, she adds.
It is too early to say that the residency program of Latvia for Russians is completely closed, agrees Yulia Kozhevnikova, leading expert of the foreign real estate internet center Tranio.Ru. 'The decision to suspend the issuance of residence permits is nothing more than a political game. And perhaps today the authorities say one thing, and tomorrow something completely different. Among politicians there are both pro-Russian and pro-Western sentiments that balance on the scales, and everything can still change,' says Yulia Kozhevnikova.
Ekaterina SAKHAROVA.
«Gazeta.ru»