The Ministry of Economic Development of Russia abandoned the idea to extend the government decree No. 1073 to 2023 – it gave tour operators a delay in returning money to customers for tours that did not take place due to the pandemic. The refund had to be completed by the end of 2022.
“The deferral has been in effect for more than 2.5 years, which is a lot. More than 90% of the debts for this period were repaid, ”the Ministry of Economic Development told Izvestia, arguing its decision.
They added that in December last year, the debt of operators to tourists was reduced to 1.5 billion rubles, although in April it was 40 billion.
The association “Turpomoshch” does not agree with this amount. According to its head Alexander Osaulenko, the debt of operators to tourists at the end of 2022 amounted to 4-6 billion rubles.
The decision can affect tourists in two ways, experts say. On the one hand, unscrupulous tour operators will no longer be able to abuse payment deferrals. On the other hand, some companies may not withstand the burden of obligations and go bankrupt, then the tourists will not receive compensation.
Even if we are talking about only 1.5-2 billion, for most niche companies this money is unbearable and they will not be able to return it, because they do not earn anything due to the closure of destinations, the Russian Union of Tour Operators noted.
However, the very rejection of Decree No. 1073 does not mean that bankruptcy will inevitably happen, Osaulenko noted.
“Now China is opening up for tourists, we have about 100 tour operators involved in it. This gives them a chance to pay off their debts,” he said.
Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:
Three years of waiting: tour operators have been deprived of a “covid” deferment to return money to tourists
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