Albania abolished visas for Russia

The government of Albania allowed Russian citizens to enter its territory without obtaining visas. The government of Albania decided to set visa-free regime for citizens of Russia from May 30, 2010 to October 31, 2010. Cancellation of visas for Russians is applied for tourist visits of up to 90 days as well as private visits. About the abolition of the visa regime informs the Russian news agency Interfax referring to the Embassy of Albania in Moscow.

Albania became another state in the Mediterranean region, which this season has decided to abolish visas for Russian tourists. We should note that in 2010 for Russians will be available visa-free entry into the territory of Croatia. In addition, thanks to recent agreements signed during the visit of the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Turkey, a visa-free regime has also been set with this country.

At the same time, against the background of simplification of visa regime with a number of traditional areas of holidays of Russians, some countries in the Balkans, on the contrary tightened visa control. Thus, Bulgaria, where many tourists from Russia and the CIS prefer to rest, adopted rather unpopular measures. Embassy of Bulgaria in Moscow revoked the registration of visas on the Internet. In addition, was increased the cost of visas, as well as the process of filing a request. To date, such measures of the Bulgarian government are disputed by the business community of Bulgaria, including the Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria. Bulgarian businessmen say that this situation leads to significant losses of the Bulgarian budget. It should be noted that Bulgaria is forced to take such an unpopular measure because in 2012 the country plans to enter the Schengen zone.

As for Albania, the number of Russian tourists wishing to visit the country is still quite low. The main reason for such a modest interest in tourism mentioned by specialists is poorly developed infrastructure. Despite the fact that the Albanian authorities are striving to improve conditions for incoming tourism (the last example is the construction of highway Drach-Kuks), they can’t create an attractive image of travel country for Russians. At the same time, Albania has several unique attractions, including Berat - "city of a thousand windows", beach resort of Saranda and rich in historical monuments city of Kruja.