In recent years, Serbia has been actively granting citizenship to foreign nationals, especially from Russia, using the naturalization procedure as an exception. According to the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Serbia, the government may grant citizenship to individuals if their admission is of interest to the state.
According to the Serbian media outlet Nedeljnik, at least four Russian oligarchs were granted Serbian citizenship in 2025:
Oleg Boyko – estimated to be worth $1.5 billion.
Sergei Lomakin – worth about $1.2 billion.
Yevgeny Strshalkovsky and Yuri Kushnerov – the exact amounts are not disclosed, but are likely to be several hundred million dollars.
The decision to grant citizenship was made by the Serbian government under the leadership of former Prime Minister Milos Vucevic. The formal basis for this was “interest for the Republic of Serbia”, according to Article 19 of the Law on Citizenship. However, the specific reasons and criteria for these individuals to receive Serbian passports remain unclear, especially given the lack of information about their previous business ties to Serbia.
So far, there is no data on whether the new Serbian citizens plan to develop business in the country. However, experts speculate that the granting of citizenship may be related to the desire to attract investment and capital to Serbia. In recent years, Russian entrepreneurs have been actively buying up real estate in Belgrade, Novi Sad, and Serbian resorts.
Statistics on citizenship and residence permits for Russians:
2022: Of the 84 foreign nationals who received Serbian citizenship by government decision, almost two-thirds were Russians.
From February 2022 to December 2024: Russian citizens submitted 73,197 applications for temporary residence in Serbia, of which more than 90% were approved.
February 2025: The number of Russians actually living in Serbia is estimated at 80,000-110,000.
Reasons for granting citizenship
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has previously stated that the accelerated granting of citizenship to Russians and Ukrainians is due to a shortage of labor in the country. Priority is given to those who open companies and create jobs for Serbian citizens. However, in the case of Russian billionaires, it is unclear how their citizenship contributes to the development of the Serbian economy.
Thus, Serbia continues to use the granting of citizenship as a tool to attract investment and business ties. However, the lack of transparency in the criteria for naturalization raises questions about the real motives behind such decisions. Against the backdrop of the geopolitical situation, the interest of Russian businessmen in the Serbian passport is likely to be related not only to investment opportunities, but also to the possibility of obtaining a new legal status in Europe.
Source: https://t.me/relocationrs/755
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a law providing for exams in the basics of the Constitution, history of Ukraine and the level of proficiency in the state language as a condition for obtaining Ukrainian citizenship.
As noted in the card of the corresponding bill No. 7606, posted on the website of the Verkhovna Rada, the document was returned to the parliament with the signature of the head of state on 21 April.
Most of the provisions of the law come into force six months after the date of its publication in the parliamentary newspaper “Holos Ukrainy”.
The document stipulates that the conditions for admission of foreigners/citizens without citizenship to Ukrainian citizenship include knowledge of the basics of the Constitution and history of Ukraine, as well as knowledge of the state language and compulsory exams in these subjects.
According to the proposed amendment to the law, a foreigner/citizen without citizenship who wishes to acquire Ukrainian citizenship shall submit in writing a statement to the effect that in the event of acquiring Ukrainian citizenship, he/she will be obliged to pass examinations in the basics of the Constitution of Ukraine, the history of the country, the level of command of the state language and, within two years, present documents on passing such examinations.
At the same time, the law proposes to introduce special conditions for acquiring citizenship for persons who have rendered outstanding service to Ukraine, who are of state interest to Ukraine, who serve under contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including those awarded with state awards, or who have received a temporary residence permit. Such persons will be obliged within two years from the moment of acceptance of Ukrainian citizenship to pass exams on the basics of the Constitution and history of Ukraine and on the level of state language proficiency.
The document provides that the failure to pass the exams is the basis for the loss of citizenship.
As reported, the bill was initiated by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal. The document was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on July 28, 2022. The Rada passed the bill in the first reading on October 18, and as a whole on March 21.
MP Serhiy Vlasenko (Fatherland faction) published a copy of the decree of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the termination of Ukrainian citizenship to a number of people, including businessmen Igor Kolomoisky, Gennady Korban, MP Vadim Rabinovich.
In the scan of the decree of July 18, published by Vlasenko on Facebook, there are 10 names.
The Verkhovna Rada intends to simplify the procedure for granting citizenship to foreigners who protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
The adoption of the relevant bill No. 5630 at the first reading was supported by 302 MPs at an extraordinary plenary session on Tuesday.
The bill proposes to simplify the procedure for obtaining Ukrainian citizenship by citizens of a state recognized by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as an aggressor or occupier who have been persecuted for political reasons, by foreigners and stateless persons who are doing military service under contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and are also directly involved in measures to ensure national security and defense of Ukraine, the containment of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
In addition, the final and transitional provisions of the draft law provide for the possibility of submitting a declaration of renunciation of foreign citizenship by persons who received Ukrainian citizenship before the entry into force of this draft law.
The National Commission on State Language Standards has released advice on preparing for the national language exam to obtain Ukrainian citizenship.
“On July 16, 2021, the exam for the level of proficiency in the national language starts. We have collected several tips to help prepare for the exam,” the commission’s press service said.
In particular, the department advises to review the exam program for the level of proficiency in the national language for persons who intend to acquire Ukrainian citizenship, at the link: https://mova.gov.ua/storage/app/sites/19/exam/gromadyanstvo.pdf, and also read the characteristics of the examination paper and see sample problems.
“Please note that the exam on the level of proficiency in the national language for obtaining the citizenship of Ukraine is an opportunity for foreigners and stateless persons to obtain legal confirmation of proficiency in the Ukrainian language. This level of proficiency in the Ukrainian language assumes that the applicant is able to recognize and use grammatically correct language forms for expression their own intentions within the daily communication needs,” the commission said.
The commission says the applicant shows knowledge of grammar when completing written assignments and during the oral part of the exam.
Thus, the exam for the level of proficiency in the national language for obtaining citizenship of Ukraine has a complex character and consists of four parts: listening, reading, writing, speaking.
It is noted that all four parts of the exam are in equilibrium, the result for each will be 25% of the total number of points. In order to confirm the level of proficiency in the national language required to obtain Ukrainian citizenship, you need to get an overall result of 50% and one point more.
ADVICE, CITIZENSHIP, LANGUAGE COMMISSION, LANGUAGE EXAM, PREPARING
Ukrainian parliamentarians propose to amend the Ukrainian legislation, which will allow citizens to have dual citizenship.
Corresponding bill No. 4640 “On amendments to some laws of Ukraine regarding the legal provision of foreign citizenship (allegiance) to citizens of Ukraine” is registered in the Verkhovna Rada, the website of the parliament reports.
The authors of the bill propose to amend the Law of Ukraine “On Citizenship”, which provide citizens of Ukraine with the right to obtain citizenship (nationality) of a foreign state without losing the citizenship of Ukraine.
The proposed amendments also allow foreigners to obtain Ukrainian citizenship without renouncing the citizenship of their country.
The authors of the bill are Servant of the People deputies Oleg Dunda, Alexander Aliksiychuk, Dmitry Mikisha.
