I totally agree. Many rich Russians are escaping Russia , settling even in Western countries
It will get more ant more difficult to move funds out of Russia.
For example, you cannot easily convert rubles to euros and wire it. It's almost impossible
Why these rich russians keep billions in Swiss banks and live in South of Europe 20million villas if Russia is so perfect place to live?
Russians still trust Swiss banks? lolwut? That's so 20th century. Swiss banks about are about as safe as US banks, reasonably stable but zero privacy.
Why would someone want to live in an expensive part of Europe? The same reason someone would want to live in Bel Air. If you have money to the point that the taxes don't matter you can isolate yourself from the dumpster fire that surrounds your compound and enjoy yourself. There's a big different between having a nice place in Europe and primarily doing business in Europe.
Can't get money out of Russia? You must be joking. Rubles to crypto or yuan, then to whatever else you want. If you want a paper trail for some reason a Hong Kong company with a yuan bank account gets your money out of Russia and it can now freely go anywhere in the world. OTOH, with as much of a PITA as HK as become it might be faster for a Russian to open a yuan account in China due to those friendly relations. Either way, mission accomplished.
Lots of Russians are moving to Dubai and most of them are wealthy not the middle class. They're paying several million usd for their new apartments and enjoying G wagons.
Personally, I don't find rich people of any national origin moving to Dubai being all that surprising, especially now that you can get permanent residence by buying a 2m AED condo. The weather is great (summer is hot if you're a wuss), quantity and availability of tremendous food rivals Singapore and Hong Kong (at a bit of a premium, but if you're rich enough an extra 200 AED for dinner is no big deal, great hotel buffets are a relative steal at Singapore/Las Vegas prices). There are multiple amusement and water parks in metro area. Internet and cell service are just below Singapore for second best in the world, even if they go for 3-5x what they cost in the US. With streaming, VPNs and good internet Dubai's TV packages sucking is no longer an issue. Gorgeous escorts can be rented at prices much lower than they would command in Singapore or Amsterdam. The emirate has far more thirsty professional western women looking for hookups than you would think. Dubai is an attractive option even if you didn't live in a place as cold as Russia for the last 20+ years. The last time I checked no one in the UAE was using Russia protecting the lives of ethnic Russians living in the Borderlands as an excuse to steal everything in the UAE owned by private Russian citizens. A better question to ask is why anyone reading this forum wouldn't want permanent residence in Dubai.
That leads me to asking why you appear to think middle class Russians would be better off in Dubai. People that aren't rich moving to Dubai are cheap domestic help, cheap hard labor, cheap hotel/restaurant/resort workers and hookers. The bottom of the top 1% from any developed country is relatively poor in Dubai. 1-1.5m AED is a good living most places, but doesn't go as far as you would like, not to mention having very low social status. My understanding is that anything under 5m AED/year makes you the emerati equivalent of white trash. When I priced out internet and cell service a few months ago what I get for $95/mo in the US would cost a little over $500/mo from Etisalat. Things like electricity and running water are also a multiple of what you're used to paying. Without a very good job in place anyone from the upper middle class in a developed country would be taking a big lifestyle hit, to say nothing of middle class. A head of lettuce was at least $6 BEFORE the recent food inflation hit. I don't know how much groceries run in Dubai now, but if a dozen eggs are over $4 in the US I'm sure it's much higher there. Monthly condo fees on places I looked at that aren't
that nice hit 7-10k+ AED. Everything that isn't sand or crude oil is imported and costs more than it does just about anywhere else in the world. Giving the maid money to get your groceries and do other misc. shopping is more a concern than maid's salary. On the plus side retail gasoline prices are among the lowest in the world and are a lower than wholesale prices US gas stations pay. It doesn't even out the overall cost of living, but it's something. If you have to be middle class, there are worse places to be middle class than Russia.
Who in this thread said you should make Russia your primary residence anyway? Did JohnnyDoe say that? I know I didn't say that. If you have to be convinced of the obvious upsides of having a Russian passport it simply isn't for you.
I have been talking with a lawyer in Russia about straight citizenship by investment, but I'm not too optimistic about this guy. His English is only a little better than my Russian and there have been some long gaps with no communication. I'm definitely not sending money before before going there in person, and I don't have the confidence to go through that trouble yet. If I don't update with something positive by the end of February assume it fizzled out or there have been enough gaps in communication for me to give up on him. It was a private referral from someone on a Russian file sharing website and not someone you can find with Yandex or Google using English. If I don't post something positive by the end of February assume it's a dead end.
