Russians got rich again and are actively buying castles and diamonds all over Europe

Sergey Kron

Actually, the list of countries that Russians choose to buy real estate has not changed for the last 5-10 years: these are Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Greece, Cyprus, Finland. But in the first place are Spain and Turkey.

According to Deutsche Welle, which cites the Spanish Notary Board, wealthy Russians have acquired about 2,000 properties over the past year! At the same time, expensive mansions and even castles, traditionally, when buying, are registered not for themselves, but for companies specially created for this purpose. The goal is to hide the true owner and pay less taxes, since firms have tax breaks.

But buying real estate in Spain is not easy. Local authorities do not want to get involved with the laundering of the capital of the "Russian mafia" in the country. They are suspicious of any money coming from Russia. Officials demand from potential buyers of real estate a lot of documents on the origin of financial assets - both from Russian banks, and from the place of work, and from tax services. In addition, all these certificates must be certified by the Spanish diplomatic mission in Russia.

As for the real estate objects that are now popular with Russians, then, according to Spanish realtors, they remain the same - apartments and cottages at sea resorts. And this greatly distinguishes the citizens of Russia from, say, the Chinese. They make acquisitions exclusively in large industrial centers, since Spain attracts them only with its business opportunities.

The average price of real estate bought by Russians in Spain today is about 200 thousand euros. The specific cost depends not only on the size, but also on the chosen location. Very wealthy Russians prefer the most prestigious villages in the south of the country, like Sotogrande or Sagalet. Not even cottages are being built here, but rather small palaces worth tens of millions of euros - with parks decorated with statues, swimming pools, tennis courts, helipads, garages and so on.

Within a few million you can buy houses in luxury villages near the southern resort city of Marbella, or on the east coast, for example, in the village of Altea Hills in the province of Alicante, as well as in the seaside resorts of Catalonia, or on the island of Mallorca.

As for the purchase of used and relatively inexpensive apartments - from about 70 thousand euros - the Spanish province of Alicante is in the lead in this segment. The city of Torrevieja, located here, has long been considered the "Russian capital" of Spain - because of the large number of immigrants from Russia living here.

Wealthy Russians are actively buying real estate in Turkey, RIA Novosti reported. The pandemic has only spurred demand. Mersin was added to the tourist Antalya, Bodrum, Fethiye and Marmaris, where, by the way, the Akkuyu nuclear power plant is being built. Some want to live on the coast, others - to invest and earn income by renting out apartments.

The influence of immigrants on the country is becoming more and more tangible. Whole neighborhoods appear where only Russian is spoken. Some compatriots even got involved in politics.

“Basically, apartments in Turkey are swept away by Iranians and Iraqis, Russians are still in third place. In 2020, ours bought real estate for 9.2 billion rubles - more than three thousand objects. From January to August this year - more than two and a half thousand apartments and houses. Local authorities expect that by 2025, sales will exceed 20 billion. Often, Turks post announcements right on the balconies - immediately in Russian, ”said Sergey, realtor of 07 Aras Emlak Ofisi.

In the West, they cannot understand in any way why "these Russians" have so much money? According to the statistics bureau of the EU, our citizens in the past year began to buy paintings of old European masters and diamonds more often than in previous years. Such buyers, according to the representatives of the auctions, are much more than those who want to buy a villa or a castle on the Mediterranean Sea.

The demand of Russians for art objects hasgrown by 40 percent over the year, and for colored diamonds - by 20 percent. The average purchase check is about 300 thousand euros. In recent months, Russian tourists have been investing in expensive collection wine.