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Updated 9 October 2026BG-EXPERT

BRIDGES expert

Igor Venc

Real Estate Managing Director, BRIDGES

I am responsible for property in BRIDGES matters: I check the property and its documents before the deal, negotiate the price and see the purchase through to registration. Twenty years in real estate, heading this practice at BRIDGES since 2018.

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Igor Venc, Real Estate Managing Director, BRIDGES
20 yearsin property deals in Europe, Cyprus and Turkey
since 2018heads the BRIDGES real estate practice
Limassollives in Cyprus, on site in Greece, Turkey and the UAE every month
8 countriesCyprus, Greece, Turkey, UAE, Portugal, Italy, Malta, Hungary

Path

Kaliningrad, Munich, Limassol

Kaliningrad, Munich, Limassol. First valuation and residential deals in Germany, then developers in Cyprus and Greece, now all property in BRIDGES matters.

  1. 1978Kaliningrad

    Born in Kaliningrad into a family of Volga Germans. His father built houses, and he grew up on building sites: ever since, he can tell from a wall and a foundation how a house was made.

  2. 1996-2002Munich

    The family moved to Germany. Faculty of civil engineering, specialising in real estate economics and valuation. Worked part-time for a valuer: measurements, reports, checking property documents.

  3. 2002-2010Munich

    Eight years at a real estate agency: valuation, deals in apartments and commercial property, work with notaries. The German school: not a single signature without a land register extract.

  4. 2010-2018Limassol and Athens

    Buyers’ representative with developers in Cyprus and Greece. Checked titles and permits, negotiated prices, accepted apartments on handover. He saw foreigners buy properties mortgaged to a bank or without title, and learned how to prevent it.

  5. 2018BRIDGES

    Joined Sergey Evdokimov to build the in-house BRIDGES real estate practice: properties for residence and citizenship programmes, checks before the deal, support after it.

  6. TodayLimassol

    Heads the BRIDGES real estate practice. On site every month: Athens, Antalya, Dubai, Lisbon. Every purchase that leads to a client’s residence or passport goes through him.

Approach to cases

Six rules that do not depend on the country

Six rules Igor applies to every purchase.

  1. 01Documents first, then the property

    Title, mortgages, building permits - checked before the deposit. A beautiful view does not replace a clean title.

  2. 02Market price, not the price list

    We compare with real deals in the area. We negotiate the developer’s discount, the client does not do it alone.

  3. 03Every property in person

    Our person on the ground sees the property: the site, the neighbours, the noise, the road. We do not buy from photos.

  4. 04Money moves in stages

    Payments are tied to the steps of the deal and to documents. Not one transfer without a paper that explains it.

  5. 05The property has to work

    Any suitable property gives the status, not every one gives income. We work out rent, costs and tax before the purchase.

  6. 06Plan the exit at the entry

    In five or ten years the property will be sold or passed to the children. We look from the start at who will buy it and how long it will take.

Talks and media

Exhibitions and meetings

Igor travels to property exhibitions and meets clients where properties for programmes are bought. You can book a meeting in advance.

Upcoming conferences

Igor online

BRIDGES on Instagram BRIDGES on LinkedIn BRIDGES YouTube channel

Beyond work

Building sites, the sea and old houses

At BRIDGES I make sure the client buys a good property at a fair price with clean documents. What I love most is arriving on site before the client and finding what the seller kept quiet about: a crack, a mortgage, someone else’s share.

My wife, our daughter and I have lived in Limassol for fifteen years. Our daughter grew up here, speaks Greek better than I do and considers Cyprus home. At weekends we take the boat out, and in winter I go up to the Troodos mountains.

My hobby is old houses. A couple of years ago I bought the ruins of a stone house in a village above Limassol and I am restoring it with my own hands: stone, wood, tiles. Every time I think of my father and the building sites of my childhood.

PropertiesLimassolThe seaOld housesArchitecture

Situations

What people come with

These are the questions clients most often bring to Igor.

Choose a property for residence or citizenship Check an apartment or villa before the deposit Buy from a developer without mortgage or delay riskCommercial property with a tenant: office, hotel, warehouseA fund instead of an apartment: when it pays offPaying for a property from another country and through a bank The deal fell through or the property turned out to have a problemLetting a property and managing it from a distance Selling the property after the status is granted

Case stories

Four matters in Igor’s own words

How We Saved Turkish Citizenship When the Purchased Apartment Turned Out to Be Mortgaged to the Bank

Turkey · citizenship

An apartment that turned out to be mortgaged

Marat from Kazakhstan bought an apartment in Bodrum himself for 420,000 dollars and applied for citizenship. The application was blocked: the land under the building was mortgaged by the developer to a bank, and nobody had checked.

I did not wait for the developer to sort it out. We pressed him through negotiations and a pre-trial claim, had the mortgage lifted from Marat’s share and brought the application back into progress.

Outcome: Mortgage lifted, Turkish citizenship granted

Read the full case

How We Saved Hungary Residence Permit When the Fund Issued an Investor an Incorrect Certificate

Hungary · residence

A fund’s mistake the client nearly paid for

Viktor invested in a regulated fund for Hungarian residence and waited for the decision. It turned out the fund had issued a certificate with an error, and the application could be rejected because of someone else’s typo.

I took the fund on directly: showed where the error was and what it put at risk, and obtained a corrected certificate. The new document went into the file before the authority raised a question.

Outcome: Certificate corrected, Hungarian residence granted

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How an Investment in a Tuscan Winery Secured Italian Residence Permit and a Passion Project

Italy · residence

A share in a winery instead of an apartment

Elena has long loved Tuscany and its wine and wanted to be part of it, not just visit as a tourist. An apartment for residence did not inspire her.

I suggested combining the status with the dream: a share in a working winery set up as an Italian company. We checked the business, the accounts and the land, and only then did Elena invest.

Outcome: Italian residence and a share in a Tuscan winery

Read the full case

How a British Citizen Regained EU Resident Status Through a Commercial Office in Nicosia

Cyprus · PR

An office that restores the status and pays rent

Mark from London lost his EU resident status after Brexit and wanted it back without wasted money: an apartment that simply stands empty did not suit him.

I suggested a commercial option: a grade A office in Nicosia with an IT tenant. We checked the tenant and the lease, and the property gave both Cyprus PR and an income of about 6.5% a year.

Outcome: Cyprus PR for the family, the office let

Read the full case

Reviews

What Igor’s clients say

Client reviews from matters Igor ran: who the client is, where they are from, which programme - and a link to the full case.

BRIDGES client reviews

SaltanatSaltanatBRIDGES client
Cyprus · Residence permit

We had no problems—we simply wanted permanent residence and two apartments in Larnaca, for ourselves and rental. Igor immediately warned us about the requirement: if you purchase two apartments, both must be from one developer, otherwise the application will be rejected.

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AlexanderAlexanderEntrepreneur from Kazakhstan
Greece · Residence permit

My funds come from my Kazakhstan business, they're clean, taxes are paid. But I knew that scrutiny from Kazakhstan is stricter, and I was afraid they'd barrage me with questions.

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AndreyAndreyBRIDGES client
Hungary · Residence permit

I was certain: I purchase an apartment in Budapest in my own name—I receive a residence permit. Igor immediately stopped me: there is no such option in the program; you do not register the apartment in your name; status is granted by investment in shares of a regulated real estate fund.

Read the case
All client reviews →

Materials

32 materials written by Igor

BRIDGES knowledge base materials signed by Igor: properties for programmes, document checks, prices and rent by country.

CitizenshipInvestments in real estate in Turkey in 2026: profitability, risks, paybackProgramme comparisonsNorthern and Southern Cyprus: Key Differences and Where to Buy Real Estate in 2026June 2026Programme comparisonsReal estate in Dubai or Turkey 2026: where is it more profitable to buy and investJune 2026ResidencyReal estate in Abu Dhabi 2026: how a foreigner can buy an apartment, areas and pricesJune 2026ResidencyReal estate in Bulgaria on the sea 2026: resorts, prices and nuancesJune 2026ResidencyProperty prices in Bulgaria in 2026: by region and type of housingJune 2026ResidencyHow to buy property in Cyprus in 2026: a step-by-step guide for a foreignerJune 2026ResidencyInvesting in Cyprus real estate in 2026: a complete investor guideJune 2026ResidencyProperty prices in Cyprus in 2026: market overview by cityJune 2026ResidencyAffordable real estate in Dubai 2026: budget areas with high returnsJune 2026ResidencyCommercial real estate in Dubai 2026: offices, retail, warehouses and profitabilityJune 2026ResidencyReal estate in Downtown Dubai 2026: apartments near Burj Khalifa, prices, rentJune 2026ResidencyDubai Off-Plan Property 2026: Buying Off-Plan From the Developer, Installments, Escrow and RisksJune 2026ResidencyDistricts of Dubai for buying property in 2026: where to buy for living and for rentingJune 2026ResidencyDubai Property Investment 2026: strategies, yields, risks and where to startJune 2026ResidencyRenting an Apartment in Dubai in 2026: Prices, How to Rent, Ejari, Long-Term and MonthlyJune 2026ResidencyReal Estate in Egypt for Russians 2026: How to Buy, Payment and RisksJune 2026ResidencyCost of Living in Greece in 2026: Rent, Food, Budget for a Family and for One PersonJune 2026ResidencySeaside property in Greece in 2026: the first line, prices and nuancesJune 2026ResidencyProperty in Halkidiki in 2026: houses by the sea near Thessaloniki and pricesJune 2026
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BRIDGES sections

Where this practice applies

Property for investment programmes Residence by investment Citizenship by investment Property and deal checks Client cases How BRIDGES works

Team

Who runs the work alongside Igor

A matter is never run by one person: the legal position, the filing, the documents and the work on the ground each have a named owner.

Maria StavruMaria StavruReal Estate AnalystMarket and price analysis by areaAnna KovalevskayaAnna KovalevskayaHead of LegalLegal check of the deal and the file for the authoritiesNikos PappasNikos PappasBanking Relations SpecialistProperty payments and correspondence with banksRobert HaasRobert HaasCorporate LawyerCompanies and shares when the property is bought through a structure

All BRIDGES experts

INITIAL ASSESSMENT

Tell us what outcome your family needs

We will design a solution for your case, choose the country and the right status, and take the whole process through to the result.

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Anna Kovalevskaya, lead lawyer at BRIDGES GLOBAL
Anna KovalevskayaLead lawyer, citizenship and residency, 12 years of practice