Investments and Russian tea in Montenegro.

With the cooling of official relations between Podgorica and Moscow, the number of Russians living in Montenegro has not decreased.

According to the Budva municipality, one of the largest Russian investments in real estate on the Budva Riviera is now estimated at 250 million euros.

The number of able-bodied Russians willing to move abroad has tripled in an April Gallup poll, reaching its highest level in a decade. The study shows that one in five Russian citizens would like to move if they could, and among the most desired destinations are Germany, other European Union countries, the United States and Canada.

The number of Russian citizens who have decided to settle in Montenegro is approximately 4,500, according to the Montenegrin Ministry of Interior. According to the latest data, the Interior Ministry has approved 3,873 temporary and 671 permanent visas for Russian passport holders.

When it comes to investments, according to the Central Bank of Montenegro, Russia was the third largest investor in Montenegro in 2018 in terms of total investments in Montenegro. Azerbaijan and Hungary invested the most, just under a million euros less than Turkey, which invested about 51 million euros. According to the Central Bank, foreign investors invested more than 182 million euros in real estate last year.

The first signs that Russians will continue to be a significant player in this market can be seen in the announcement of the largest Russian investment on the Budva Riviera - the construction of a tourist and residential complex on Smokvica, near St.

Official statistics on the number of properties owned by Russian citizens in Montenegro are not available, but according to estimates of real estate agents, who often contact RSE to research such topics, there are several thousand of them in the Budva Riviera alone.

Besides those who have bought expensive real estate and built luxury villas, Montenegro is also home to Russians who came in search of work or simply for a better life. One young Muscovite, for example, visited Budva to set up a tea store. In a country where coffee is a ritual for many and tea is usually drunk only as medicine, Nikita Kharchenko decided to make money by selling herbs for a drink that has existed for about four thousand years.