The Russian Riviera

The love story between the Russians and the French Riviera is not a novelty of contemporaneity. It is instead a communion that dates back 150 years, when the time of Tzars was at its peak. 

It all began in 1856, when Alexandra Feodorovna, widow of the Tzar Nicholas I, settled in Nice. From this point on, many members of the Russian aristocracy of the period spent their winters in this sunny paradise, building sumptuous villas that can still be admired today.  Their numbers grew so quickly that, in 1859, out of 104 foreign families registered in Nice, 30 were Russian while only 24 were French (Nice became part of France only a year later). It is worth mentioning that most of the Russian aristocracy knew French and were fascinated by France in general, so moving to such a region did not require efforts at accommodating. Interestingly, the Belgian journal L'Indépendant wrote: "The English have taken a dislike to Nice. They claim that the Russians have imported there [...] their natural agitation, their inner tumult." This flooding can be explained on one hand through the adulation the Russians showed their Tzars and their families, aristocrats and bourgeoisie alike being more than keen to live in their proximity, and on the other hand through the rough winters that befell Russia yearly. Thanks to this exodus, the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Nice is the largest one outside of Russia—its construction heavily financed by the imperial family.

The Russian Revolution brought the ending of this trend in 1917, when the Bolsheviks were victorious, thus forcing a great number of White forces, intelligentsia and aristocrats to flee the country. Nevertheless, some of them did choose the French Riviera because of the already-established Russian community that flourished here.

Fast forward seventy years of stagnation in Russian immigration in this region, the ‘90s brought about the fall of the USSR and together with it immense freedom for the subjects of the socialist regime. In this new climate, the French Riviera became once again a hotspot for many Russians, from oligarchs to a plethora of persons from the criminal underworld, all of which brought serious money to this region. The most important impact they had was regarding real estate. Luxury apartments and villas were bought by some oligarchs to move their dirty money out of Russia and to launder it. This trend was so significant that the prices of the whole real estate of the Riviera were—and to this day still are—drastically inflated. This over-inflation of the market left out the possibility for most locals to ever buy such properties. From the mid-90s to the financial crisis of 2008, prices skyrocketed all over the Riviera. For example, in Cap d’Antibes, a square meter of luxury property was 20,000 euros in 2000-2001, reaching a staggering 53,000 in 2005-2006. 

However, the war in Ukraine has brought drastic changes to this phenomenon. The authorities from France and Monaco have seized a considerable number of villas and other assets along the Riviera that belonged to associates of President Putin. Since the conflict, the number of Russian buyers of property in this region plummeted, according to the director of an important real estate agency. Regardless of this facade, the Russian elite lives and party—as if sanctions do not exist. As one French finance ministry official put it, “We’re entering an era of industrialisation of sanctions—and the EU has not been built for that purpose, it’s not in our DNA.” Indeed, EU-imposed sanctions are too lenient and have hardly been effective, allowing, for example, a seized mansion to be used by the owner without restrictions. The only thing that is not possible is to sell it. Recently, two Russian billionaires with heavy ties to the regime challenged the sanctions imposed on them by the EU and won, making this a step toward reclaiming their luxurious villas on the Riviera and setting a model for other sanction-stricken billionaires. Additionally, 60 percent of real estate agents on the Riviera are not checking whether their clients’ names appear on a sanctions list. So life has hardly changed for the oligarchs that inhabit this area.

Nonetheless, what speaks in favor of the authorities is that the Russians have developed a system so complicated that sanctions are hard to implement. In order to avoid any type of suspicion or sanction, they use a number of shell companies, trusts and foundations, making it nearly impossible to trace the owner accurately.

The Russian reputation has been severely tainted by the newcomers of the ‘90s, who have slowly transformed the French Riviera into a money laundering scheme.rices are now too high for most of the population here. But the Russian community belongs to the Riviera, as it has for the last 150 years. While sanctions have thus far been unsuccessful, with the implementation of harsher laws, the Riviera just might become what it once was: a place where cultural exchange plays a key role in the development of the region and not just a toxic tourist spot.