Over the past year, industry insiders, have consistently highlighted a remarkable trend in Grenada’s Citizenship by Investment Program. Since Q2 2022, there’s been an unprecedented rise in applications, with the majority stemming from Russian applicants. This contrasts sharply with other programs that closed their doors to this demographic.

Grenada, known for its transparency, regularly releases comprehensive data about its CBI Program. However, specifics about the nationalities of the applicants remained undisclosed until recently. In a candid interview this week, Chairman Richard Duncan of Grenada’s CBI Committee confirmed the speculations. He stated, “the overwhelming majority, perhaps 90% of the applicants approved, are of Russian nationality.“

The Chairman went on to describe the first half of 2023 as a ‘windfall’ for the CBI initiative. A remarkable EC$157 million was raised from approved applications during this period. But that’s not the full story. The Ministry of Finance’s latest report indicates a whopping EC$573 million total intake for the program during the same period, including donations, fees, and real estate investments. This figure already surpasses last year’s EC$359 million total, and the momentum doesn’t seem to be slowing down. As noted by Thomas Anthony, the head of Grenada’s CIU, we can expect even more impressive figures in the next quarter.

Yet, there’s a looming challenge. Grenada has recently pledged allegiance to the US State Department’s “6 CBI Principles”, committing to exclude both Russian and Belarusian applicants from its program starting Q2. This decision might temper the program’s current trajectory, potentially impacting application volumes in the future.