Bulgaria to Issue Visas to Russian Tourists Right on the Borders

26.01.2013

The Bulgarian government plans to start issuing visas for Russian tourists right at the Bulgarian border crossing points.
As of January 2012 Bulgaria lets in Russian holders of Schengen visas even though it is not technically part of the Schengen Area yet.
At the moment there is only one company entitled to fly to Bulgaria. This is the single Russian airline- Aeroflot-which keeps the tickets too high- about 600Eur.
“The expensive tickets also hinder Bulgarian tourists wishing to visit Russia”,Djankov is quoted as saying. According to the Financial Minister they have been negotiating with the Russian government for more than a year about how to make Russia more open to Bulgarians. He said that we would like to expand the number of entitled airlines, which will bring cheaper tickets.
About 600 000 Russians, mostly tourists, are estimated to have visited Bulgaria in 2012.

---