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4,500 Russian citizens may lose their property in Estonia

Russia (bbabo.net), - Most Russian citizens who own real estate in Estonia have a residence permit (permit) in this country, writes err.ee. But nearly 4,500 Russians who own property in the Baltic republic need a visa to visit Estonia. Therefore, they may find themselves in a situation where, due to a visa ban, there will be no one to take care of their property.

According to the Estonian Ministry of the Interior, Russian citizens own 41,351 properties in the Baltic republic, while Belarusian citizens own 919. Most of them own one apartment, but one Russian citizen owns 24 properties.

Although the majority of Russian property owners live in Estonia with a residence permit, approximately 12% of them (4,500 people) may lose access to their property due to the recent visa ban imposed by Tallinn. Vice-Chancellor of the Estonian Interior Ministry Veiko Kommusaar said that if the owner of real estate, who is a Russian citizen, has debts in Estonia due to sanctions, this could ultimately mean the loss of this property.

“The reason for this consequence is the Russian government, which decided to invade Ukraine, and, of course, the people of the Russian Federation suffer because of this. This question is primarily for Russia itself: why should its inhabitants suffer because of what their regime is doing? Indeed, if a person cannot find ways to maintain his property, then this extreme consequence may come. We do not currently assume that Estonia should take any mitigating steps here,” Kommusaar warned.

He added that, from the point of view of Tallinn, a large amount of real estate owned in Estonia by Russian citizens is a “security risk”.

“Of course, there are critical areas where property ownership poses an immediate threat to our security. And of course, there are places in the form of individual apartments where this problem is not so serious,” added the Vice Chancellor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

According to him, additional measures should be taken to limit the possibility of owning real estate in Estonia for citizens of states outside the European Union.

“Can third-country nationals own land and real estate, for example, in critical infrastructure or border areas? It definitely needs more changes,” Kommusaar said.

He said that the ministry is developing a relevant bill, which is not yet ready - and therefore the Ministry of Internal Affairs has not yet disclosed its details.

I think it will be possible to talk about this in more detail in the coming months," added Veiko Kommusaar.

4,500 Russian citizens may lose their property in Estonia