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Updated 9 October 2026BG-EXPERT
BRIDGES expert
Sergej Evdokimov
Managing Partner, BRIDGES
In 2004 I started with visas and the first residence permits in Europe. Today BRIDGES is an international group: citizenship and residence by investment, capital, companies, banking and property of a family in one strategy. I am responsible for the company strategy and personally run the matters where a status decision affects capital and business.
Since 2004in investment migration, founder of the practice
8,000+families and private clients over twenty years
236 casespublished on the site under Sergej’s name
18 officesfrom Budapest and Limassol to Dubai and Almaty
Path
Twenty years: from the first visas to an international group
Sergej’s path is the story of BRIDGES: from a small visa practice to a group with offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Below are the key years, cities and decisions that shaped it.
- 1995-2001Kyiv and Cherkasy
Legal education: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and the Cherkasy Academy of Management (today the Eastern European University), master’s degree in international law.
Taras Shevchenko National University of KyivEastern European University - 2004All The World
Together with partners he founds the All The World practice: visas to European countries and the first residence permits in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. The history of BRIDGES starts in this year.
- 2006-2012Tallinn, Bucharest, Sofia, Vilnius
The first offices abroad and the first European company in the structure. Canada through the Saskatchewan programme, Hungarian citizenship matters, the first investment cases in St Kitts and Nevis. The start of a partner network of lawyers in other countries.
- 2013-2014Athens, Budapest
Greek Golden Visa from the first year of the programme, then Hungary and Latvia. Own office in Budapest. In October 2014 Sergej’s team attends WealthPro Russia, the international private wealth conference in Saint Petersburg.
- 2015Capital Invest: Moscow, Almaty, Astana
Co-founder of Capital Invest. Offices in Moscow, Almaty and Astana. In September Capital Invest partners the InvestPro Kazakhstan conferences in Almaty and Astana, with a talk on EU residence and citizenship by investment.
- 2016-2018Limassol and Valletta
Citizenship and permanent residence in Cyprus and Malta, an office in Limassol. In January 2016 Sergej gives an interview on Cyprus citizenship by investment. In 2018, an in-house real estate division.
- 2019BRIDGES
Founds BRIDGES and brings the whole international practice under one brand. In the summer he films «Our People» in Cyprus, his own series of conversations with those who moved and built a life on the island.
- 2020-2023Monaco, Antigua, Montenegro
An office and a company in Monaco, where Sergej’s family lived from 2014 to 2023, work with private banks and investors. Antigua and Barbuda, Montenegro and Moldova join the practice. In 2023 BRIDGES receives investment programme agent licences: matters are handled directly with the authorised bodies.
- 2024-2025Budapest
BRIDGES head office in Budapest. The group grows beyond migration: the BLACKFILE checks and due diligence service becomes a separate line of business, and property and capital projects get under way.
- TodayManaging Partner, BRIDGES
Signs off the strategy of every complex matter and personally runs those where a mistake costs a family its status or its capital. Author of BRIDGES analysis: the citizenship by investment market map and the cost, speed and due diligence indices of the programmes. Author of 65 programme guides on the site.
Approach to cases
Six rules that do not depend on the country
Sergej built the practice on these principles, and the BRIDGES team runs every matter by them, whatever the country and the budget.
- 01One strategy instead of separate services
A status affects the bank, tax residence affects the business structure, property affects inheritance. We solve the family’s task as a whole rather than sell a programme.
- 02Checks first, promises second
Before the first payment we check whether the client meets the requirements and how the capital will be evidenced. We promise only what depends on us.
- 03Money must have a history
Due diligence looks at the path the money took, not at the amount. We build that history with documents before filing, even when it starts in the 1990s.
- 04Fund and developer checked before the money moves
A property, a fund or an intermediary is checked before the deal. Someone else’s mistake must not cost the client the status and the capital.
- 05Complex matters Sergej runs himself
Refusals, past mistakes, false matches in screening databases and disputed source of funds: Sergej takes such matters personally and signs off their strategy himself.
- 06A status is work for years
Renewal, a passport after residence, banks and taxes after the move. We stay with the client after the document is issued.
Talks and media
Conferences, broadcasts and publications
Since 2014 Sergej’s team has taken part in industry conferences on private wealth and investment migration, from Saint Petersburg to Almaty. Recordings are on the BRIDGES YouTube channel.
Publications
Sergej online
Projects
What I am building now
BRIDGES is growing into an international group built around the needs of private capital: status, property, checks, money and the everyday life of a family across countries. Some lines already work, and I am preparing new ones for launch as separate products.
BRIDGESCitizenship, residence and capitalResidence, permanent residence and citizenship by investment, banking, tax residence and business relocation - in one strategy for the family.About the company 
BLACKFILEChecks and protection from riskChecks on people, companies, assets and business reputation before a deal. Due diligence and corporate intelligence for private clients and businesses.blackfile.io 
BRIDGES EstateNew-build homes worldwideA catalogue of new residential and investment projects from developers: prices, floor plans and handover dates. We select the property and support the purchase.bridges.estate 
BRIDGES InvestmentsProperty investment and developmentRenovation, new construction and income-producing assets. We acquire, deliver and manage assets together with investors.bridgesinvests.com 
BRIDGES ToursBusiness trips before the moveTrips of 4-5 days built around your goal: to live, gain status, invest or move a business. On the ground - viewings, a lawyer, a tax adviser and a bank.bridges.tours 
BRIDGES AcademyTraining and certificationWe train consultants in citizenship, residence, property, tax and banking: courses, practical case studies, an exam and a certificate.academy.bridges.global A specialist by task, country and language: their materials and consultation booking in one place.
Settlements and everyday payments for clients who live and do business in several countries.
To be continued...
We are building not a set of services but connected infrastructure around a person, their family, capital and business.
More about the BRIDGES groupBeyond work
I love life
And I am not shy about it. My wife, our children and I have lived in Austria, Hungary, Estonia, Cyprus and Malta, in Dubai and Milan, and from 2014 to 2023 our home was in Monaco. Every move means a new school for the children, a new bank, a new doctor and new friends. So when a client asks what it is really like there, I answer from experience, not from a brochure.
My free time is the road. I get behind the wheel and drive across Europe: small towns, mountain switchbacks, dinner by the sea. Italian food is my weakness: pasta, simple wine and a long evening with people close to me.
I love good cars, sport and things made with soul. We bring the same taste for quality to our work: a client should feel as calm with us as on a good trip.
Situations
What people come with
These are the tasks people most often bring to Sergej. If your situation is similar, it is assessed at the first meeting, before any costs.
Citizenship by investment and a second passport European residence and permanent residence by investment Cyprus permanent residence for the whole family Evidencing the source of capital, including wealth made in the 1990sA false match in screening databases and the risk of refusalMoney in an unchecked fund or with an unreliable intermediaryCitizenship for business needs: companies, a fleet, bankingA refusal or a matter stuck with the authoritiesChoosing a country: programmes compared by cost, timing and strictness
Case stories
Four matters in Sergej’s own words
Four matters Sergej tells about himself. Names are changed, circumstances are not.
Cyprus · Permanent residence
Capital from the 1990s that had to be proven again
The client’s wealth was legitimate but rooted in the 1990s: privatisation, the first large business. The money had long been at work, while the documents of those years had scattered across archives. For Cyprus permanent residence, «I made it in business in the nineties» is not enough: today’s due diligence wants to see the path of the capital from the start to the account.
We carried out a reconstruction: retrieved the privatisation and business records of that period, tax records and transactions, and joined them into one continuous story from the 1990s to the present, in a language compliance understands.
Outcome: Source of capital evidenced, Cyprus permanent residence granted
Malta · Applicant screening
Twenty-one days to prove you are you
The matter was moving calmly until a screening database returned a match: the client had a full namesake, an official from a sanctioned sector in a CIS country. The system did not tell the two people apart. A refusal on security grounds closes doors far beyond one country, and the deadline to respond was twenty-one days.
We did not dispute that the namesake exists. We proved that our client is a different person: date of birth, documents, biography, business history. Once the two identities are separated by documents, the flag is removed.
Outcome: False flag removed, the matter continued
Turkey · Citizenship
A passport as a working tool for a shipowner
The client did not need a passport for its own sake: the former flag of his fleet had become a problem for the business, and the vessels had to keep sailing. The flag decides the maritime law, the insurance, the reception in ports and the attitude of charterers.
We chose Turkey for its strong maritime law, neutral flag and ports. Citizenship came through a deposit in a state bank, the company was set up in the Mersin Free Zone, and the vessels were re-flagged under the Turkish flag without downtime.
Outcome: Citizenship granted, the fleet operates under the Turkish flag
Portugal · Golden Visa
A «golden visa fund» that gave no visa
The client came to us with the problem already in hand: through another intermediary he had put a large sum into a fund presented as suitable for the Golden Visa. The fund had no regulator licence and gave no right to residence. Both the status and the capital were at risk.
First we took the money out of that structure, then moved it into a regulated fund that genuinely qualifies for the programme, and brought the matter through to a residence permit.
Outcome: Capital preserved, Golden Visa granted
Reviews
What Sergej’s clients say
Client reviews from matters Sergej ran: who the client is, where they are from, which programme - and a link to the full case.
BRIDGES client reviews
NataliaHead of family
There are six of us, and the standard citizenship pathway was expensive—you pay for each person. Sergej proposed the UWI Fund: it is specifically structured for large families, and for six members, it proved more advantageous than the standard option.
Read the case
DanilBRIDGES clientAfter graduation I genuinely faced deportation, and I dismissed Bulgarian citizenship—I was convinced they wouldn't grant it without the language, and I don't speak Bulgarian at all. Sergej started with exactly that: he said that for ancestry you don't take the language exam at all, I'm exempt.
Read the case
BorisBRIDGES clientMy wife and I are not young, and we didn't need adventures - just a peaceful status in Europe. Everyone was frightening us with Spain and France: live half the year, learn the language. At our age?
Read the caseMaterials
53 materials written by Sergej
BRIDGES analysis and materials by Sergej: the market map and indices of citizenship programmes, country reviews, timelines, costs and reasons for refusal. Search by section or by a word in the title.
Citizenship9 Hidden Costs of Caribbean Citizenship That Nobody Talks AboutCitizenshipDual citizenship of Russia and Israel: how it works in practiceCitizenshipDual citizenship with Egypt in 2026: is it permitted and what Russian citizens need to knowCitizenshipIsraeli Citizenship for Russian Citizens: Step-by-Step Guide 2026CitizenshipDual citizenship of Russia with other countriesCitizenshipCertificate of Absence of Second Citizenship: Where to Obtain and WhyCitizenshipSecond citizenship and the army in Russia: legal reality in 2026BRIDGES analysisHow We Calculate: The Methodology Behind Our AnalysisBRIDGES analysisWhat a Family Costs in Citizenship ProgrammesBRIDGES analysisThe 2026 Cost Index of Citizenship by InvestmentBRIDGES analysisThe 2026 Map of the Citizenship-by-Investment MarketBRIDGES analysisA Chronology of the Citizenship-by-Investment MarketBRIDGES analysisThe 2026 Speed Index of Investment ProgrammesBRIDGES analysisWhat Happened to Visa-Free Travel on Investment PassportsBRIDGES analysisHow to Choose a Program: Citizenship, Residence Permit or Permanent Residency through InvestmentBRIDGES analysisWhere people leave Russia from: statistics and real stories of those who relocatedLife abroadThe best areas of Dubai and Abu Dhabi for expats to liveResidencyWork in Dubai for Russians in 2026: how to find, sectors, visa and salariesResidencySafety in Dubai in 2026: One of the Safest Cities in the WorldResidencyEgypt Residence Permit in 2026: Types, Real Estate and How to Get One
Showing 20 of 53
BRIDGES sections
Where this practice applies
Team
Who runs the work alongside Sergej
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.
Viktoria LebedevaManaging Director, Private ClientsLeads the client from the first meeting and owns the service standard
Anna KovalevskayaHead of LegalLegal position and file review before filing
Irena SokolovskaHead of European PracticeEuropean office and the partner network on the ground
Dmitry NagyInternational Tax ConsultantTax residence and the family’s banking mattersINITIAL 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.
Anna KovalevskayaLead lawyer, citizenship and residency, 12 years of practice