As Cyprus weighs the war's impact, Greece has now banned Russians from holding golden passports.

From February 28, Greece's Minister of Migration and Asylum has prohibited Russians from investing in the country by issuing residence visas.

The ministry said in a statement that "suspension of issuance or renewal of residence permits for investment purposes for citizens of the Russian Federation until further notice"

It read: "By order of the Minister of Migration and Asylum, Mr. Notis Mitarachi, the issuance and renewal of residence permits of investment interest and purpose that are under consideration and come from citizens of the Russian Federation is suspended until further notice."

"In addition, the competent authorities will not accept new requests for the issuance of the aforementioned residence permits."

"At the same time, no applications for residence permits of the category "business executives" for citizens of the Russian Federation will be considered until further notice."

"It should be noted," the ministry continued, "that Greece is currently awaiting relevant EU decisions."

While a recent article in the Cyprus Mail highlighted how the services sector is heavily reliant on the activities of Russian-owned businesses.

In 2020, foreign direct investment flows totaled €388.8 billion, with €101.9 billion coming from Russia. At the same time, outgoing FDI totaled €399.3 billion, with €134.4 billion going to Russia.

The value of Russian deposits in Cyprus is estimated to be €1 billion.

By fLEXI tEAM