Panayiotis Rougalas
An additional €1.5 million have been included in the budget of the Ministry of the Interior for 2019. According to a package of amendments that came before the Finance Committee, the budget bill asks for an extra €1.5 million to cover the purchase of services for a specialized international firm to perform due diligence for the government's citizenship by investment programme.
The government approved this action back in May 2018 as response to criticism over the naturalization process
The government approved this action back in May 2018 as response to criticism over the naturalization process.
According to an Interior Ministry announcement last Friday, up to three Firms are to carry out investor due diligence. Professionals will be expected to sift through 1,500 applications per year and the duration of the contract will last up to three years.
According to Kathimerini sources, PricewaterhouseCoopers is the frontrunner to provide these services to the State.
After the 31st of July 2018, applications for citizenship by investment can only be submitted through natural persons / legal entities registered in the Cyprus Investment Firm Registry.
Members of the Registry are obliged to provide a summary report with due diligence results together with every application.
