THE exclamation “the Russians are coming, the Russians are coming” has been a chilling warning since the Cold War, gaining traction in pop culture as a movie title. It has returned with a chill in parts of Eastern Europe since Russia invaded Ukraine in spring 2022.
However, the phrase “the Russians are going” might now apply to the tiny Balkan state of Montenegro (formerly part of Yugoslavia, just south of the favourite Irish holiday destination of Croatia/Dubrovnik).
Here, as the country works towards EU accession in 2028, sanctions have been applied to Russian investment locally, in line with EU and other Western countries.
Porto Montenegro Marina can take craft up to 250m long
While the impact of sanctions on Russia’s super-wealthy and oligarchs is likely to be uneven, a very visible example is the €250m superyacht Luminosity, tied up at the upscale 480-berth marina in the Balkan beauty spot of Porto Montenegro since 2022.
Also moored there is the 350ft, three-masted superyacht Black Pearl, one of the world’s largest sailing superyachts and the subject of a recently deceased Russian oligarch’s internal family ownership dispute.
Dark sails in the sunshine as sanctions bite on Russian oligarchs and their offshore assets (pic shows Black Pearl)
Between these two mega-valuable floating assets and the assorted, smaller gin palaces of internationally mobile high-net-worth individuals, there’s real cachet to the high-end — and increasingly high-aspiring — cosmopolitan destination of Porto Montenegro.
Porto Montenegro’s Regent Hotel, owned by the Investment Corporation (ICD) of Dubai which has ambitious on-going plans for the former Yugoslav naval shipyard site
That’s thanks to investment by owners the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), who took over this Adriatic resort — comprising hotels, a marina, residential developments and commercial/retail spaces — in 2018 from Canadian initiator Peter Munk for circa €200m.
It is currently multiplying that investment across several strands over the next five to 10 years.
The ICD, the state’s sovereign wealth fund (one of the world’s largest with $320bn in assets), is part of a wider Gulf trend to diversify wealth from oil into other sectors.
Other UAE funds and investors, including billionaire Mohamed Alabbar, are also pouring investment into proudly independent and EU-aligning Montenegro.
Porto Montenegro
Billed as one of the Mediterranean/Adriatic’s upcoming hotspots, and backed by its platinum-grade, large-scale, 480-berth marina (able to take boats of up to 250m, though few of this scale yet exist), Porto Montenegro — which fringes the town of Tivat — is a transformative development on the site of a former Yugoslav naval shipyard, with several display submarines still forming part of its visitor attractions.
Porto Montenegro’s Siro Hotel opened this year
The mountainous country (population 600,000) offers spectacular scenery, dropping to the sea along the fjord-like Bay of Kotor, where the ancient city of Kotor is UNESCO-protected and a popular cruise ship destination.
It’s a short boat ride from Porto Montenegro — assuming your craft is swift enough.
Bay of Kotor has a UNESCO town and cruise ship berths
Up to now, Russians have been the largest category of property investor in Montenegro (one report says they own 19,000 properties in the state, perhaps understandably given its former Iron Curtain heritage and Riviera-like appeal).
They account for over 32% of ownership in Porto Montenegro, followed by UK investors (11%) and Ukrainians (8%), but since 2022 future investment and profile have shifted firmly to the West.
Gulf-based owners ICD are spending a further €60m on marine investments at their luxurious Kotor Bay home port and have taken over a shipyard now branded as Adriatic 62 at Bijela, across the bay, for repair and servicing of premier and luxury superyachts.
Porto Montenegro already employs 1,000 people in season, and the 300 employees and subcontractors joining the boat-refit operation are putting further pressure on local accommodation, says Porto Montenegro’s MD, David Margason, on a recent UK/Irish press trip.
Three hundred days of sunshine a year is another lure for less well-heeled mortals.
Delivered since circa 2016 on the 70-hectare, west-facing, town-based former naval site are the Italianate-style Regent Hotel (with a 61m infinity pool) and its residences.
Regent Hotel and marina
(The UK Reform Party’s Nigel Farage’s associate, George Cottrell, reportedly has a suite here.) Newly opened in 2025 is a second hotel, the more contemporary Siro, with a strong emphasis on health and wellbeing facilities, at a completed section called Boka Place.
There is also extensive high-end retail, 600 residential units, an international school with day and boarding facilities, and sports, cultural and entertainment amenities.
Porto Montenegro’s Boka Place
The ICD’s additional spend has now exceeded €600m, with major new land-based and marine developments to follow.
Next on the market for all-comers — EU, Irish, US and UK buyers — and benefiting from very low tax rates for investors, are two more contemporary buildings: Vero, with 155 apartments, and Versa, with 47 residences.
Prices range from €390,000 to €416,000 for studios and one-beds, up to €1.9m and €3.18m for expansive suites, with rental and management options available. Flights operate via Dubrovnik across the border in Croatia (around three hours from Dublin) or more seasonally into adjacent Tivat.
And they are cheaper than many of the yachts tied up at the marina…