While the EU disagrees about a bloc-wide visa ban, Russian citizens not only travel freely but also purchase homes in Europe. In Lithuania, Russians have also been buying increasingly more real estate.
In the first half of this year, Russian citizens purchased 520 real estate properties in Lithuania, including 184 apartments or residential houses.
In 2021, Russians purchased over 1,000 real estate objects in Lithuania (322 apartments or residential houses), in 2020 – 800 (262 apartments or residential houses), in 2019 – 646 (247 apartments or residential houses), and 650 (250 apartments or residential houses) in 2018, according to the data of the Centre of Registers.
In Vilnius, Russians have acquired 2,700 properties, with an additional 1,100 in Visaginas and Klaipėda each.
In total, Russians have acquired 12,000 properties in Lithuania, including around 6,000 apartments. This accounts for 0.4 percent of the total number of flats or residential houses in Lithuania.
Moreover, Russians buy real estate in Lithuania through their companies registered here. The foreign direct investment in Lithuania’s real estate by Russian legal entities amounts to 106 million euros.
Belarusians are also keen to buy housing in Lithuania. In the first half of this year, they purchased 240 real estate objects (88 apartments or residential houses), in 2021 – 500 (174 apartments or residential houses), in 2020 – 400 (114 apartments or residential houses), in 2019 – 285 (118 apartments or residential houses), and 270 (101 apartments or residential houses) in 2018.
No threat to national security
It is likely that some Russians are buying real estate in Lithuanian to get their money out of Russia, according to Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK).
“They are big supporters of Russian imperialism, but their children are studying in the West. The logic is the same here – the aim is to get money out of an authoritarian regime. The money is invested in Europe, where there is the rule of law, protection. This shows hypocrisy – the West is bad, but it is better in the West,” he said.
In his words, the property acquired by Russians in Lithuania does not pose a threat to national security yet.
“When we talk about threats to national security, we should always assess the impact on strategic sectors that affect the development of our economy and political system. Here, we have a security system in place, we limit Russian investment,” Kasčiūnas said.
“But if there is a very high concentration of that real estate, it should be taken into account. In any case, I consider this to be a negative phenomenon,” he added.
In its sixth sanctions package, the EU proposed to ban Russian citizens from buying real estate in the bloc. However, this proposal was later dropped. According to Kasčiūnas, it could still be revisited.
“The visa situation shows that an EU-wide decision must be taken. If there is no European solution, we can talk about a regional solution. I would see such sanctions as timely and necessary because this is a war not only of Putin but of Russia as a whole. Therefore, they should pay the same price,” he said.
Ban on regime people
According to Vytis Jurkonis, a politics professor at Vilnius University, Russians and Belarusians are buying housing in Lithuania because of the human rights situation in their countries.
“This is related to the worsening human rights situation and the worsening situation for doing business in those countries. Some businesses are forced to move out of these countries because the situation there is not favourable for them,” he said.
In his words, banning all Russians from buying real estate in Lithuania is not necessary, as purchases should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
“We need to talk about specific people – the Kremlin circle, oligarchs, officials, regional leaders […]. The threat here is not that someone has acquired assets, but that we don’t really know who is acquiring them,” he said.
Russians and Belarusians may also want to buy real estate in Lithuania to acquire a Schengen visa more easily.
However, the Foreign Ministry notes that the possession of the real estate in Lithuania by a third-country national is not a factor facilitating the obtaining of a visa but only a circumstance justifying the purpose of arrival in Lithuania.
“A visa application is examined in a complex manner, assessing all the circumstances related to the issuance of the visa, including whether the applicant poses a risk of illegal immigration or a risk to the security of the member states,” the ministry said in a written response.
The Migration Department also notes that owning real estate in Lithuania is not a ground for obtaining a residence permit and does not provide for any extenuating circumstances.
Not a trend
According to Mindaugas Statulevičius, the head of the Lithuanian Real Estate Development Association, developers have not noticed a greater willingness of Russians to buy property in Lithuania in recent years.
“We do not see a significant flow of Russian buyers this year and we do not see any interest in the primary housing market. [...] Of course, there is a possibility that Russian citizens are shareholders of certain companies operating here, which are acquiring real estate,” he said.
“We are noticing more of a trend that Belarusian companies are moving to Lithuanian and buying real estate to accommodate their employees,” Statulevičius added.
Moreover, third-country nationals are not allowed to buy land in Lithuania, which also discourages Russians from acquiring property, such as residential houses, in the country.
According to Statulevičius, the Vilnius real estate market is currently heated up due to the high demand from Ukrainians and Belarusian companies, so even if Russians were banned from buying housing in Lithuania, the impact on the real estate market would not be noticeable.
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