Visit big-city Russia, soon without visa
A 72-hour visa-free transit regime will be introduced in the cities of Moscow, Sankt Petersburg and Kazan, the Russian minister of culture says.
The visa initiative will help vitalize tourism, Minister Vladimir Medinsky highlighted in a meeting with members of the Committee of Education and Culture, a unit under the Federation Council.
Only the airports of Moscow, Sankt Petersburg and Kazan will be applicable, and the short-term visa will concern first of all transit travellers, the minister said. “It will for example enable a Japanese going to Rome make a stop at the Bolshoy Theater”, he argued.
According to Medinsky, his ministry also wants to introduce a ten-day visa-free regime for foreign participants in cultural events and festivals, as well as for football players.
The initiatives are part of a new legislative bill currently under elaboration by the ministry, newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta reports.
