There is no blanket ban. A Russian citizen who is not personally sanctioned, whose funds are from legitimate non-sanctioned sources, and who can complete the payment through a compliant banking channel may purchase property — subject to land restrictions, sanctions screening, and enhanced AML/KYC checks.
Buying Property in Romania as a Russian National in 2026
Legal Rights, Land Restrictions, EU Sanctions Screening, Banking Constraints, Source of Funds, AML/KYC Compliance, SRL Ownership, Mortgage Access, Document Preparation — and the Step-by-Step Procedure That Determines Whether the Transaction Can Proceed
A practical guide for Russian nationals considering property purchase in Romania in 2026 — the legal right to buy buildings versus land, apartment versus house purchase, ownership through a Romanian SRL, EU sanctions screening and its scope, banking restrictions and payment difficulties, source of funds and source of wealth documentation, enhanced AML/KYC checks, mortgage availability, tax identification, required documents, remote purchase through power of attorney, choosing professional advisers, legal due diligence, preliminary contracts with sanctions conditions, safe payment structures, buying from developers, nominee ownership risks, post-purchase taxation, rental income, residency implications, future sale and repatriation of proceeds, key red flags, and the step-by-step procedure that must be followed before any deposit is paid.
Not a blanket ban
EU sanctions do not impose a universal prohibition on every Russian citizen buying residential property in Romania — but the transaction is impossible if the buyer, any related party, or the payment route falls under applicable restrictions
EU sanctions do not impose a universal prohibition on every Russian citizen buying residential property in Romania — but the transaction is impossible if the buyer, any related party, or the payment route falls under applicable restrictions
Buildings vs. land
Russian citizens can generally purchase buildings (apartments, commercial units) — but land requires a Romanian SRL
Russian citizens can generally purchase buildings (apartments, commercial units) — but land requires a Romanian SRL
Bank before notary
the principal practical barrier is often not the legal right to sign but the ability to make a compliant payment — bank approval must be confirmed before any deposit
the principal practical barrier is often not the legal right to sign but the ability to make a compliant payment — bank approval must be confirmed before any deposit
Sequence matters
sanctions check → land analysis → ownership structure → bank clearance → source of funds → due diligence → contract — not the reverse
sanctions check → land analysis → ownership structure → bank clearance → source of funds → due diligence → contract — not the reverse
IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTICE: This guide provides general information about the legal and practical framework for Russian nationals purchasing property in Romania as of mid-2026. EU sanctions regimes, banking regulations, and compliance requirements are subject to frequent change. This material does not constitute legal, sanctions, tax, or financial advice. Every transaction involving a Russian national must be individually assessed by a qualified Romanian lawyer with current sanctions expertise. No property purchase should proceed without a professional sanctions screening and compliance review specific to the buyer, their related parties, and their source of funds.
1. Can Russian Citizens Buy Property in Romania in 2026?
The short answer: there is no blanket legal prohibition on every Russian citizen purchasing residential property in Romania. The EU sanctions regime does not impose a universal ban on property acquisition by Russian nationals solely on the basis of citizenship. However — and this qualification is fundamental — a transaction is legally and practically impossible if the buyer, any beneficial owner, any related party, the source of funds, or the financial institution handling the payment falls under EU restrictive measures (asset freezes, financial restrictions, or other applicable prohibitions).
A Russian citizen who is not personally designated on any EU sanctions list, whose funds are demonstrably from legitimate and non-sanctioned sources, and who can complete the transaction through a compliant banking channel may legally purchase property in Romania — subject to the same rules that apply to all third-country nationals, plus enhanced compliance checks that apply in the current sanctions environment.
This guide addresses both the legal framework and the practical reality. The legal framework defines what is permitted. The practical reality — driven by bank risk appetite, enhanced AML/KYC scrutiny, and the difficulty of moving funds from or through sanctioned jurisdictions — determines what is actually achievable.
2. Buildings Versus Land: The Fundamental Legal Distinction
As a citizen of a non-EU, non-EEA country, a Russian national is classified as a third-country national under Romanian property law. The key distinction: buildings (apartments, houses as structures, commercial units) can be purchased directly by any foreign national, including Russian citizens. Land — the physical plot — is subject to restrictions under Law No. 312/2005: third-country nationals generally cannot acquire land directly in their personal name unless an applicable bilateral treaty or reciprocity arrangement permits it.
This means: a Russian citizen can purchase an apartment (a self-contained cadastral unit within a building, including the accessory land share). A Russian citizen can purchase a commercial unit (office, shop). A Russian citizen generally cannot purchase land directly — including the land under a house, an undeveloped plot, or agricultural land — in their personal name. For transactions involving land, the standard solution is a Romanian SRL (limited liability company).
VERIFY BEFORE COMMITTING. The cadastral structure of the specific property must be checked before any deposit. An apartment typically includes an accessory land share that transfers with the unit. A house almost always includes a separate land parcel. A parking space may or may not have a land component. The buyer’s lawyer must confirm what rights are being transferred and whether the buyer can legally receive them.
3–4. Apartments, Houses, and the SRL Structure
For a standard apartment purchase, the process is structurally similar to any other third-country national buying in Romania: the buyer acquires the apartment unit and its accessory share of common parts and land. The land share is accessory to the apartment and generally transfers with it in standard notarial practice.
For a house with land, the transaction requires a different structure. The most common approach: the Russian citizen establishes a Romanian SRL, the SRL acquires the land (and potentially the house), and the individual owns the company. The SRL, as a Romanian legal entity, can acquire any type of property without the land restriction — regardless of the shareholders’ nationality.
Critical qualifications for SRL ownership: the SRL must not be used to conceal the Russian beneficial owner — the UBO (ultimate beneficial owner) must be disclosed in all registrations and to all counterparties. The SRL is subject to the same sanctions screening as the individual. A nominee shareholder or director does not eliminate the obligation to identify the actual beneficial owner. The corporate structure does not circumvent sanctions compliance — it is a legitimate ownership vehicle only when used transparently and for genuine legal or tax purposes.
5. EU Sanctions Screening
EU sanctions screening is the single most critical compliance step for any property transaction involving a Russian national. The screening is not limited to checking whether the buyer’s name appears on a list. It encompasses: the buyer personally; their spouse and close family members; any company owned or controlled by the buyer; the directors and shareholders of any entity involved; the person holding a power of attorney; the beneficial owner of any corporate structure; the bank originating the payment; the source of the funds; and any intermediary involved in the transaction.
EU restrictive measures include: asset freezes (prohibition on making funds or economic resources available to designated persons); financial restrictions on certain Russian banks and financial institutions; restrictions on deposits by Russian nationals and residents above certain thresholds with EU banks (subject to specific exemptions); and sectoral restrictions that may affect certain types of transactions. The sanctions regime is regularly expanded and amended — by April 2026, additional packages had imposed further restrictions on Russian financial institutions and individuals.
A sanctions screening must be conducted by a qualified professional using current, authoritative databases — not by the buyer themselves and not by a real estate agent. The screening should be performed before any deposit is paid and repeated before the final signing, as designations can occur between these dates.
NO DEPOSIT BEFORE SANCTIONS CLEARANCE. A Russian buyer should never pay a reservation fee, a deposit, or any advance before a professional sanctions screening has confirmed that the transaction can proceed. If a sanctions issue is discovered after money has been transferred, recovering the funds may be legally complex or practically impossible.
6. Banking Restrictions and Payment Difficulties
The most frequent practical obstacle is not the legal right to sign a contract but the ability to make a compliant payment. Romanian and European banks apply their own risk policies, which in many cases go beyond the minimum legal requirements. A bank may decline to: open an account for a Russian national; accept an incoming transfer from a Russian bank or a bank with significant Russian exposure; process a payment where the source of funds is connected to Russia; or provide any financial services to a client whose risk profile exceeds the bank’s tolerance — even if the client is not personally sanctioned.
Specific banking challenges include: transfers from Russian banks that are themselves sanctioned or disconnected from SWIFT; transfers routed through intermediary banks that decline to process Russia-connected payments; delays or rejections triggered by enhanced due diligence on Russia-linked transactions; and the deposit thresholds that apply under EU Regulation 833/2014 to deposits by Russian nationals and residents with EU credit institutions (subject to exemptions for certain purposes including the purchase of residential property in the EU, where applicable).
The practical recommendation: before committing to any property, the Russian buyer should identify a bank willing to accept them as a client and process the transaction, and obtain preliminary confirmation that the specific payment can be executed. This banking pre-clearance should occur before the preliminary contract is signed — not after.
7. Source of Funds and Source of Wealth
Every participant in the transaction — the bank, the notary, and the buyer’s own lawyer — will require documentation of the origin of the purchase funds. For Russian buyers, this scrutiny is significantly more intensive than for buyers from non-sanctioned jurisdictions.
Source of funds (the immediate origin of the money for this purchase): bank statements showing the accumulation or receipt of the specific funds; sale contracts for previously owned assets; employment contracts and salary records; dividend payment confirmations; inheritance documentation; loan agreements; investment account statements.
Source of wealth (the explanation of how the buyer built their overall financial position): business ownership documentation; historical tax returns; corporate financial statements; professional career history; family wealth documentation. The buyer should prepare a comprehensive, documented file before approaching any bank or signing any contract. Having funds in a bank account does not, by itself, prove their legitimate origin.
8. Enhanced AML/KYC Checks
Beyond sanctions screening, every party to the transaction conducts AML (anti-money laundering) and KYC (know your client) checks. For Russian nationals, these checks are enhanced due to the elevated risk profile associated with the current geopolitical context. The checks include: identity verification; tax residency confirmation; PEP (politically exposed person) screening; adverse media searches; beneficial ownership identification; transaction purpose verification; economic rationale for the ownership structure; and ongoing monitoring.
Russian citizenship does not automatically mean the buyer is a money launderer or a sanctioned person — but it does trigger a higher level of scrutiny. The buyer should approach this process with full transparency, complete documentation, and professional legal support. Attempting to minimise or obscure Russian connections — through nominees, undisclosed beneficial ownership, or indirect payment structures — creates far greater risk than honest disclosure.
9. Can a Russian Buyer Obtain a Romanian Mortgage?
Formally, Romanian banking law does not contain a blanket prohibition on mortgage lending to Russian nationals. Practically, obtaining a Romanian mortgage as a Russian citizen in 2026 is extremely difficult and in many cases impossible. Banks assess: the applicant’s residency status; whether income is earned within the EU; the currency and verifiability of income; the applicant’s credit history; the bank’s internal risk appetite for Russian-connected lending; and the compliance implications of establishing a long-term financial relationship.
Most Romanian banks have significantly restricted or ceased lending to Russian nationals. A buyer who needs mortgage financing should explore this option at the very beginning of the process — before any property search — and should not assume that financing will be available. Cash purchases avoid the mortgage complexity entirely but require full documentation of the funds’ origin.
10–12. NIF, Documents, and Power of Attorney
A Russian buyer needs a Romanian NIF (tax identification number) from ANAF. The NIF is obtained by application with a passport copy and, if using a representative, an apostilled and translated power of attorney. Obtaining a NIF is an administrative step — it does not constitute approval of the transaction by any bank or regulatory authority.
Required documents include: valid international passport; proof of current residence; NIF; marital status documentation and spousal consent where applicable; source of funds documentation package; power of attorney (if purchasing remotely) — notarially authenticated, apostilled, and translated into Romanian. For documents issued in Russia: apostille or applicable legalisation, certified translation into Romanian, and verification of current validity. Practical difficulties in obtaining and apostilling Russian documents should be anticipated and planned for.
A power of attorney for remote purchase should be specifically limited: identifying the exact property, the maximum price, and the representative’s authority. General powers of attorney with broad authority are not recommended. The notary will verify the power of attorney’s authenticity and scope before proceeding.
13–14. Choosing Advisers and Legal Due Diligence
A Russian buyer needs: an independent Romanian lawyer with current sanctions law expertise — not the seller’s lawyer, not the agent’s lawyer, and not a lawyer who dismisses compliance requirements; a bank that has confirmed willingness to accept the client and process the transaction; and a notary who has been informed of the buyer’s nationality and the transaction structure in advance. The lawyer should conduct: a full sanctions screening of all parties; legal due diligence on the property (Land Book, chain of ownership, encumbrances, building permits, cadastral compliance); and review of the contract terms with specific attention to sanctions and banking conditions.
15–16. Preliminary Contract: Sanctions and Banking Conditions
The preliminary contract for a Russian buyer should include conditions that protect the buyer if the transaction becomes impossible due to factors beyond their control: a condition that the deposit is refundable if a sanctions prohibition prevents the transaction from completing; a condition that the deposit is refundable if the buyer’s bank declines to process the payment after documented compliance review; a condition confirming the buyer’s right to acquire the land component (if applicable); and adequate time for the enhanced due diligence process. A Russian buyer should never sign a preliminary contract or pay any deposit before sanctions screening, banking pre-clearance, and legal due diligence are complete — or at minimum substantially advanced.
17. Safe Payment Structure
Every payment must be: from the buyer’s own bank account (not from a third party, a relative, or an unrelated company); to the seller’s or developer’s verified bank account as specified in the contract; traceable and documented; cleared by the buyer’s bank in advance; and consistent with the declared source of funds. Cash payments, cryptocurrency, payments through unverified intermediaries, and payments designed to obscure the Russian origin of the buyer or the funds are not only compliance failures — they are potential criminal offences under EU and Romanian anti-money laundering law.
18–19. Buying from a Developer and Nominee Ownership Risks
When buying from a developer, additional checks include: the developer’s own sanctions status; the land ownership and building permit; the bank financing the project; and the developer’s willingness to transact with a Russian buyer (some developers have internal policies restricting sales to sanctioned-jurisdiction nationals). The buyer should verify whether the land share associated with the apartment will be transferred and in what legal form.
Purchasing through a spouse, relative, or nominee to conceal Russian beneficial ownership is not a legitimate planning tool — it is a sanctions evasion and AML risk. All parties to the transaction are legally required to identify the true beneficial owner. A buyer who conceals their identity or nationality exposes themselves, the nominee, and all professional participants to criminal liability. Transparent ownership — either directly or through a properly disclosed SRL — is the only safe path.
20–21. Taxation and Rental
Russian property owners in Romania pay the same taxes as all other owners: annual building tax, land tax, and — if renting — income tax on rental proceeds (10% on net income after a 20% or 30% fixed deduction) plus potential CASS health contribution. If the property is owned through an SRL, corporate tax applies to rental income and dividend tax to distributions. Rental income can be received into a foreign bank account — but banking compliance checks apply to ongoing rental payments just as they do to the purchase payment. The owner must also comply with tax obligations in their country of tax residence.
22. Property Ownership Does Not Provide Romanian Residency
Purchasing property in Romania does not grant a visa, a residence permit, or the right to live in Romania or the Schengen area. Romanian residency requires a separate immigration application based on a qualifying purpose: employment, business activity, study, family reunification, or another legally recognised ground. Property ownership may support an application (as evidence of ties to Romania) but is not sufficient on its own. A Russian citizen planning to live in Romania must address the residency question separately from the property purchase.
23. Selling and Repatriating Proceeds
When selling, the Russian owner faces: transfer tax (1% or 3% depending on the ownership period); agency commission; the same enhanced AML/KYC and sanctions checks that applied at purchase — the sanctions landscape at the time of sale may differ from the landscape at the time of purchase; potential difficulty transferring sale proceeds to a bank account in Russia or a Russian-connected jurisdiction; and home-country tax obligations on the capital gain. The ability to buy a property today does not guarantee the ability to sell it and repatriate the proceeds without complication in the future. This uncertainty should be factored into the investment decision.
24. Key Red Flags
25. Step-by-Step Purchase Procedure
How ROMANIA FOR BUSINESS SRL Can Help Russian Buyers
ROMANIA FOR BUSINESS SRL supports foreign buyers — including Russian nationals — navigating Romania’s property market with professional due diligence, compliance coordination, and independent advice. Our services include:
- Sanctions and compliance advisory. Professional sanctions screening, AML/KYC assessment, source-of-funds review, and ongoing compliance monitoring throughout the transaction.
- Ownership structuring. Advice on purchasing through a Romanian SRL versus as a natural person — micro-enterprise tax regime, VAT implications, depreciation benefits, and the optimal structure for your specific situation.
- Legal due diligence. Independent review of property titles, Land Registry status, encumbrances, building permits, and developer track records.
- Contract review and negotiation. Independent review of preliminary agreements and final sale contracts — with specific attention to sanctions and banking conditions.
- Banking coordination. Identification of banks willing to accept Russian clients, document preparation for KYC/AML compliance, and payment clearance advisory.
- Company formation. Establishment of Romanian SRLs with full UBO disclosure and tax registration.
- Notarial coordination. Document preparation, certified translations, Apostille coordination, and power-of-attorney representation.
- Tax advisory. Property taxation, rental income reporting, VAT, micro-enterprise regime for property-holding SRLs, and coordination with home-country tax advisers.
- Ongoing property management. For owners not permanently resident in Romania: coordination of property maintenance, rental management, and tax compliance.
For a consultation or to discuss your specific requirements, contact us at info@romania-for-business.com or visit romania-for-business.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not universally. EU sanctions target designated individuals, entities, and financial channels — not every Russian citizen. However, every transaction must be individually screened, and practical banking barriers may prevent some transactions.
Generally yes — an apartment is a building, and third-country nationals can purchase buildings. The accessory land share typically transfers with the apartment. Sanctions screening and banking clearance must be completed first.
Not directly in their personal name under the general rule for third-country nationals. Land must be acquired through a Romanian SRL with full UBO disclosure.
The building can potentially be purchased personally; the land requires an SRL. The structure must be determined with a lawyer before any deposit.
Yes — the SRL is a Romanian legal entity and can acquire land without restriction. But the Russian beneficial owner must be fully disclosed, and the SRL is subject to the same sanctions screening as the individual.
Yes. Sanctions analysis covers the company’s beneficial owners, directors, shareholders, and the source of funds used for the purchase — not just the company itself.
No. A designated person under EU asset-freeze measures cannot acquire property (an economic resource) in Romania. Any attempt to do so — directly or through intermediaries — is a criminal offence.
It depends on whether the specific Russian bank is sanctioned. Several major Russian banks are subject to EU restrictions. Transfers from sanctioned banks will be rejected. Even non-sanctioned Russian banks may face difficulties with correspondent banking.
Bank statements, employment records, business ownership documentation, asset sale contracts, tax returns, inheritance documents, and any other evidence demonstrating the legitimate origin of the specific funds used for the purchase.
No — payment should come from the buyer’s own account. Third-party payments create compliance risks and may be rejected by the bank, the notary, or the seller’s lawyer.
Extremely difficult in practice. Most Romanian banks have restricted lending to Russian nationals. Explore this before any property search — do not assume financing is available.
Not legally required — but practically essential for most transactions. Identifying a bank willing to accept a Russian client should be an early priority.
Yes — required for the notarial transaction and for subsequent tax registrations. Obtaining a NIF is administrative and does not constitute transaction approval.
Yes, through a notarially authenticated, apostilled, and translated power of attorney — specifying the property, the price, and the representative’s authority.
Yes — subject to NIF registration, lease registration with ANAF, income tax, potential CASS, and banking compliance for receiving rental payments.
No. Property ownership and residency are legally independent. A residence permit requires a separate immigration application based on a qualifying purpose.
Only if the spouse is the genuine owner with their own legitimate funds. Using a spouse as a nominee to hide Russian beneficial ownership is a sanctions and AML violation.
Annual building tax, land tax, insurance, and — if renting — income tax (effective 8% on gross long-term rent) plus potential CASS. Same rates as all other owners.
In principle yes — but subject to the sanctions and banking landscape at the time of sale, which may differ from the time of purchase. AML documentation will be required by the transferring bank.
Romania For Business SRL
Company Formation · Legal Support · Property Investment in Romania
This material is for information only and does not constitute legal, sanctions, tax, financial, or investment advice.