There has been a two-year decline in applications for Russia’s Golden Visa Programme, according to reports from RBC Group, a Russian media organisation headquartered in Moscow. The scheme has reached just 2.5% of its target audience, generating only a fraction of its intended revenue.
Launched in 2023, the programme was designed to stimulate economic growth by attracting wealthy investors from China, India, Africa, and the Middle East. Authorities initially expected 300 to 400 applicants to apply for citizenship via the Golden Visa route, with that figure rising to 600 in its third year. However, only 24 people applied in 2023, dropping to 14 expressions of interest in 2024. So far, in 2025, just one person per month has submitted an application.
Criteria
Successful applicants gain the opportunity to invest in Russia in two ways, through stock and real estate, authorities said at the program’s launch. Criteria range from a minimum investment of at least 15 million rubles (€165,000) in “socially significant regional projects” to a 30-million-ruble (€330,000) investment in an existing Russian company. Alternatively, would-be citizens could start their own business worth at least 4 million rubles (€44,000) in taxes and contributions, or buy real estate worth between 20 million and 50 million rubles depending on its location.
Citizens of 14 countries have made applications, RBC reports. They are listed as Algeria, Azerbaijan, China, Croatia, Germany, Georgia, Israel, Iran, Mongolia, Serbia, South Korea, Türkiye, the United States and Uzbekistan. Between them they have injected 2.66 billion rubles (just over €29 million) into the Russian economy, according to data from the Ministry of Economic Development. That compares to a hoped-for 12 billion to 40 billion rubles per year (€132 million to €440 million).
More advantages and a better geopolitical climate needed
Analysts have put forward various reasons for the disappointing returns of the scheme. Vladimir Eremkin, a senior research fellow at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (IPEI RANEPA) notes that the investment requirements are relatively high and, unlike other schemes in Spain or the United Arab Emirates, do not bring any bonus tax advantages or wider market access. He also pointed out the impact of international sanctions that limit money going in and out of Russia and are making potential investors fearful of asset seizure.
Andrey Stolyarov, a deputy head within the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, echoed Eremkin’s words and also blamed Russian monetary policy for not encouraging “the growth of entrepreneurial activity.”
Still, these commentators framed the golden visa scheme as a relative success given it is in its early stages. Program numbers could still be boosted, according to Boris Kopeikin, chief economist at the Stolypin Institute for Growth Economics, as the scheme matures – and if negotiations around ending Russia’s war with Ukraine come to fruition.
