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Photo: MIHAI BARBU / REUTERS
The new Bulgarian government has announced the end of the issue of so-called golden passports.
Prime Minister Kiril Petkov's cabinet justified the move by stating that the program in question had not led to significant investments in the Bulgarian economy as intended.
The EU Commission had long criticized the practice of granting citizenships against financial commitments and called for its end.
The government in Sofia created the program in 2013.
Since then, wealthy Chinese and Russians in particular have benefited from it: For an investment of the equivalent of 500,000 euros, they were given permanent residence rights and Bulgarian citizenship if they raised twice as much money.
Investments sold again immediately after naturalization
However, the government found irregularities in these proceedings in almost every second case.
In particular, the Justice Department cites the example of investors who resold securities or newly acquired property immediately after being naturalized.
Petkow took office in late 2021 with a promise to fight widespread corruption.
For years, the EU Commission had criticized the issue of “golden passports” in various member states.
In 2020 it therefore initiated infringement proceedings against Cyprus and Malta.
In June 2021, the Brussels authority also wrote to Sofia threatening legal proceedings.
Sanctions that the US government imposed on Bulgarian nationals and companies last year because of their role "in corruption" in the country are in part related to the issue of passports.
Washington accuses one of the sanctioned Bulgarians of having set up an illegal system to quickly acquire Bulgarian citizenship.
ime / AFP