The Bulgarian diplomatic mission in Russia has indefinitely suspended the acceptance of documents for tourist visas and visas for property owners from Russians: the dismissed Petkov government took this step after the reaction of the Russian Foreign Ministry to the expulsion of 70 employees of the Russian embassy from Sofia – for this reason, Moscow on Friday On August 5, 14 Bulgarian diplomats were declared persona non grata.
As ATOR reports concerning Russian tour operators specializing in the Bulgarian direction, the Bulgarian consulate in Moscow notified them of the temporary suspension of accepting documents for visas “in connection with the emergency that has arisen.”
However, as the tour operators add, a valid multiple-entry Schengen visa or a multiple-entry national visa from Croatia, Romania, or Cyprus is perfectly suitable for a trip to Bulgaria: with it, real estate owners in Bulgaria will be able to visit their property.
It should be noted that despite the lack of direct air connections between Russia and Bulgaria, the number of Russian tourists in this country has increased dramatically recently and continues to grow: more than 33,000 Russian tourists “made their way” to Bulgaria this year.
“The increase in the number of Russian tourists who visited Bulgaria in the first five months of this year compared to the same period in 2021 is 3.9 times. A total of 33,584 visits by Russian tourists were recorded for January-May 2022,” said the Acting Director. Minister of Tourism of the recently dissolved government of the country, Hristo Prodanov.
A significant part of them, according to the ex-minister, are real estate owners in Bulgaria, but the “package” tourism business will not collapse either, he assured. “None of the Russian tour operators announced their intention to close Bulgaria as a tourist destination, all are ready to continue their work and adapt to new conditions,” added Prodanov. Now, the flow of Russian tourists to Bulgaria will be multiplied by zero…