Russians Account for 90% of Grenada CBI Applications in 2023, Reveals Program Chairman

As IMI has postulated numerous times over the last year, the unprecedented rise in application volume recorded under Grenada’s Citizenship by Investment Program since Q2 2022 was almost entirely attributable to its remaining open to Russian applicants while the others were closed. In an interview with local TV this week, the Chairman of Grenada’s CBI Committee has now confirmed as much.

While Grenada releases timely and rich data on its program, it has historically not published data on applicant nationality. This week, however, Chairman Richard Duncan revealed that “the overwhelming majority, maybe 90% of the applicants approved so far, are in the area of Russian nationality,” he commented on The Bubb Report.

Describing the first six months of 2023 as having brought a “windfall” for the program, he said the program had raised EC$157 million from approved applicants during the period.

According to the Ministry of Finance’s latest quarterly report, however, the program had raised a total of EC$573 million during the period, counting donations, fees, and real estate investments. The amount already well exceeds last year’s total of EC$359m. According to Thomas Anthony, the head of Grenada’s CIU, results from the year’s third quarter “will be even better.”

This is despite Grenada's now having committed to excluding Russians (and Belarusians) from the program as of Q2, as part of its agreement to the US State Department's "6 CBI Principles". This will no doubt have a dampening effect on application volume.

Read more about the Grenada CIP's astonishing performance in 2022/2023: Grenada CIP: Revenue Up 213% From Last Year, US$133M Invested in Real Estate Since January

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