MOVE OVER CHINA AND WATCH OUT DOMINICA, HERE COME THE RUSSIANS !

MOVE OVER CHINA AND WATCH OUT DOMINICA, HERE COME THE RUSSIANS !

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If you read the Caribbean media closely, you know that the Government of Dominica has appointed a Resident Ambassador to Russia, to be located in the capital, Moscow. The Ambassador, Nuri Katz, is the owner and CEO of a CBI consultancy, based in Montreal, Apex Capital Partners Corp., which, among other services, offers Citizenship by Investment through Dominica, where it also maintains an office.

For those readers who are wondering why Mr. Katz is moving to Moscow at this time, you only need look at recent developments in the United Kingdom, regarding the issue of visas awarded to Russian nationals. For reasons that are relevant to the UK moves towards corporate transparency, including the fact that most high-end property in London is now being purchased through opaque shell companies, and the UK poisoning attack, affluent Russians are reporting extreme difficulty in securing a UK visa. Individuals who have substantial real estate holdings in the UK, including commercial properties, and seek to visit there, are being turned down.

The is a potential problem; With a Dominica CBI passport, the holder, whose listed name is a transliteration from the Cyrillic alphabet to our Latin characters, may possibly have had his true identity slightly altered, to defeat computer inquiries by law enforcement agencies. The holder, with a clean new name on his new passport, can now enter the UK visa-free, because Dominica is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. 

Although arriving directly from Russia might be a problem, Russians who acquire Dominica CBI passports would most likely choose to transit additional countries, and to produce the CBI document, when arriving at Heathrow, for the first time, so no interesting passport stamps would appear to give them away. Would they be coming from the Western Hemisphere? We cannot say, but this appears to be a solution to their dilemma. Maybe he picks up his CBI passport in  Roseau, the capital, en route the UK; he can take BA across the Pond.

Will Russians visit Dominica, after they become Dominicans? The Russian Federation and the Commonwealth of Dominica do have a close, albeit classified, relationship, the details of which have never been made public. Here are two incidents that prove one exists:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

(1) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, on a one-on-one meeting with his Dominican counterpart, Francine Baron, in Sochi, Russia, on November 14, 2016, during the CELAC meeting,  signed a bilateral agreement of cooperation between their two countries. Details of that agreement have never been disclosed, nor has the Government of Dominica ever referred to it in official communications. What is in that agreement?

Dominica Minister of Foreign Affairs Francine Baron

(2) A private meeting, between Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, and Russian FM Lavrov took place on June 2, 2017, during the Twenty-First St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where Lavrov made reference to the bilateral cooperation agreement as the focal point between the two signatories.  

Will we now see wealthy Russians flying into their "adopted" country, in expensive business jets, where the airport authority sends everyone home early, to protect their privacy, as was done recently? We cannot say, but we will be watching, cameras ready. 

Chronicles of Monte Friesner - Financial Crime Analyst