Despite being under stringent EU and US sanctions since 2022, Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska continues to secretly control valuable real estate assets in Montenegro through a complex network of offshore companies. Investigations reveal that his hidden investments include prime coastal developments, raising serious questions about Montenegro’s commitment to enforcing Western sanctions.
The Montenegrin Ministry of Urban Planning recently granted construction permits to K.P.M. for a luxury five-star hotel complex above Trsteno beach near Budva. The project, approved by acting chief state architect Mirjana Đurišić, promises an “exclusive coastal tourist resort” with 819 parking spaces. While presented as a local development, corporate records show K.P.M. was historically owned by two offshore entities – British Virgin Islands-registered Tangril Equities and Cyprus-based Gavroche Investment – both previously identified in US and UK court documents as Deripaska-controlled vehicles.
Ownership has since shifted to Marshall Islands-registered Jolie Services, which also controls Overseas Assets Management. Together these companies hold approximately 550,000 square metres of prime land on Cape Platamuni, where Deripaska originally acquired plots for just €9 per square metre in the early 2000s. The oligarch is also believed to retain hidden interests in Porto Montenegro, the €50 million luxury yacht marina in Tivat developed with his associate Nathaniel Rothschild.
British security analysts note this pattern of obscured ownership mirrors Deripaska’s known tactics of using offshore jurisdictions and nominee structures to circumvent sanctions. The continued development of high-value projects under new corporate veils suggests either deliberate blind-eye turning by Montenegrin authorities or systemic failures in beneficial ownership transparency. With Montenegro pursuing EU accession, its tolerance for sanctioned Russian capital risks undermining both its European integration prospects and the integrity of Western sanctions regimes.
Financial crime experts warn that luxury real estate developments provide ideal vehicles for sanctions evasion, allowing oligarchs to park illicit wealth while generating clean income streams. The Deripaska case exemplifies how sanctioned individuals exploit weak regulatory environments in candidate EU states, with Montenegro’s coastal property market proving particularly vulnerable to such exploitation. HM Treasury’s sanctions enforcement unit continues monitoring these developments, though its ability to act remains constrained by Montenegro’s jurisdictional independence.
