Cyprus considering offering EU citizenship to Russian investors/depositors
Hit By the Levy: Cyprus Mulls Citizenship Offer for Russians
After being forced to impose a levy on bank deposits above 100,000 euros under the terms of its bailout, Cyprus is looking for ways to preserve the country's attractiveness to foreign investors. The government may soon offer EU citizenship to Russians hit by the one-time tax.
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has a new idea for winning frightened investors back to his country. He wants to offer Cypriot citizenship to foreigners who have lost more than 3 million ($3.91 million) as part of Cyprus' one-time forced levy on bank accounts. The president made the announcement in a speech to Russian businesspeople in Limassol on Sunday.
Anastasiades said his government is currently drafting a number of measures to limit the "damage to the Russian business community." And it was no coincidence that the president gave the talk in Limassol, Cyprus' second biggest city, which is often referred to by the nickname Limassolgrad because of the large number of Russians living there.
Given the visa restrictions imposed on Russians, obtaining citizenship from an EU member state could indeed be an attractive proposition -- one from which Anastasiades would like to profit. In addition to the potential citizenship offer, the government is also seeking to create other measures to help keep the country attractive to investors, including tax incentives for existing or new companies that conduct business in Cyprus.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/cyprus-mulls-giving-russian-investors-citizenship-a-894409.html
I think many countries have special visas (leading to eventual citizenship) for high-end investors/entrepreneurs. This is a different twist in that it offers visas/citizenship to foreigners who lost money in their banking crisis.