Nat Rothschild Gains Montenegrin Passport

The newspaper Vijesti said it had learned from the Interior Ministry that the 42-year-old British-born financier, who lives in Switzerland, had gained a Montenegrin passport on the request of then Prime Minister Igor Luksic in 2011.

The billionaire heir to one of the world’s great banking dynasties, known as Nat, became better known in Montenegro in 2011 when he celebrated his 40th birthday in the the newly built Porto Montenegro yacht marina in the Bay of Kotor.

Among the 400 guests at the glamorous birthday party was the current Montenegrin Prime Minister, Milo Djukanovic.

Montenegro, which regained its independence, lost after World War 1, in 2006, generally has a restrictive citizenship regime.

However, the Law on Citizenship allows people deemed significant for the country’s development to obtain passports on the request of the head of government, the parliament or the President. The Ministry of Interior makes the final decision.

The most controversial cases was in 2009, when the authorities granted a passport to Taksin Shinawatra, the former Thai Prime Minister.

Ousted in 2006 in a military coup, he was later sentenced in absentia to two years’ imprisonment for corruption and abuse of his official position.

Djukanovic justified granting Shinawatra a passport in 2010 by referring to his plans to invest in the country’s tourism.

Vijesti reported on Monday that over 160 perons had been granted Montenegrin citizenship owing to their significance to the state since 2009.

Marina Abramovic, the Belgrade-born performance artist, actors Milena Dravic and Dragan Nikolic and footballer Dragan Dzajic are also on the list of naturalized Montenegrins.