Captured islands: what is the impact of illicit finance on local communities? The case of the Cres-Lošinj Archipelago

Illicit financial flows into tourism are a well-known phenomenon, but the impact these have on local communities is a widely unexplored area of research. In Croatia, investigative reporting (including in the aftermath of the Pandora Papers leak) has confirmed the connectedness of financial flows from Russia, through offshore structures, into touristic ventures on the Croatian island of Lošinj. On the nearby island of Cres, a small community is now threatened by a similar set of actors. By employing a mix of ethnographic research alongside OSINT analysis and semi-structured interviews with business and political actors, this research project & video documentary explores the effects such flows of money have on local communities, especially those rendered vulnerable by emigration and by a mono-sectorial economic focus. In so doing, it unpacks the layered and tainted value of luxury developments in areas that are outside of the usual locations analysed in contexts of gentrification (large urban centres) but are nevertheless acutely affected by it (coastal and archipelagic areas of high touristic attraction). While illicit financial flows into South Eastern Europe are widely discussed, the project seeks to understand their impact on the ground, thus adding an important new dimension to existing discussions.