The Ministry of Transport has proposed extending the period of a visa-free stay for foreign yachtsmen to 7 days. The Ministry has made the relevant amendments to the law «On the procedure for leaving the Russian Federation and entering the Russian Federation». The new bill has already been submitted to the Duma.
In the current edition of the law, visa-free stay of foreign sailors in Russia is limited to 72 hours. During this time, sport sailing boats and pleasure boats won't be able to pass along the Black Sea coast due to the remoteness of sea ports, according to the Transport Ministry. To increase the attractiveness of maritime yacht tourism in the Black Sea, it is necessary to increase the visa-free period to a week, officials concluded.
It is assumed that the introduction of 7-day visa-free regime for sea tourists will increase tax revenues to budgets at all levels, and also contributes to the development of infrastructure of sea ports.
Let us recall that in July this year, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev instructed the government to develop yachting.
