The Estonian Ministry of the Interior has prepared a bill to ban citizens of Belarus and Russia, who do not have permanent residence permits, to buy real estate in the country. This is reported by ERR.
The purpose of the proposed changes, as noted, is to limit the ability of “hostile states or persons under their control to use real estate for intelligence and influence activities against Estonia, or for sabotage operations.
In addition to individuals, the ban is proposed to be extended to companies from these states, as well as to legal entities of which they are the actual beneficiaries. At the same time, Russians and Belarusians will be able to rent immovable property.
If the bill is adopted, it should come into force on 1 January 2027. The authors of the document believe that the restriction will apply to about 600 transactions per year and will not affect the real estate market.
As of April 2025, 36,952 citizens of Russia and 896 citizens of Belarus owned real estate in Estonia. The ban will not have retroactive effect and will not affect persons with long-term residence permits, as their backgrounds have been sufficiently checked by the state, the explanatory note says.
Latvia, Lithuania and Finland have also previously tightened legislation regulating the acquisition of immovable property by citizens of Russia and Belarus.