Baltic States – CIS, Lithuania, Real Estate, Tourism

The philosophy of the town's Mayor Ricardas Malinauskas is clear and simple: the more tourists come, the better life for the locals. However, some of the local businessmen have exceeded the mayor's agitation skills. A real estate agency Dzukas has releases a leaflet in the Russian language under the ringing title "Druskininkai, the Baltic Pearl". The publication openly invites the Russian and Belarusian citizens to buy property in Lithuania since it their only window to Europe. The brochure is distributed free of charge in a local shopping centre, informs LETA/ELTA, referring to Respublika.

"Buying a tiny bit of Lithuania is very simple. You will only need some money and a passport and an apartment or a house is yours. Foreigners are only prohibited to buy land parcels in their own name. But it is easy to make a loophole (legko oboyti – it says in Russian) by opening a company, it is a cheap and legal way," the brochure claims. The legitimacy of it is guaranteed by the notary office and the real estate agency. The head of the agency Vladimiras Santurovas did not understand what the daily Respublika saw wrong in the leaflet: "I do not see any kind of crime here. It does not violate any Lithuanian law. As far as I know, the Lithuanian laws allow what is stated in the brochure. People buy lot of property here and they do it often". Is not it something that the Special Investigation Service should look into?