Izvestia: "VTB bank to bail out Lanta-Tur Voyage"
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin instructs VTB to pay the debts of the bankrupt travel agency.
Putin interfered in the row over the bankruptcy of Lanta-Tur Voyage, one of Russia's largest travel agencies. At his meeting with the Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy, Vitaly Mutko, Putin said that one of the state banks is ready to pay off the travel agent's debts to its contractors. According to Izvestia, VTB bank agreed to bail out the agency to allow Russian tourists to complete their vacations abroad without paying twice for hotel bills and return tickets. However, once this predicament is over, Lanta-Tur will have to pay back the state in full.
According to Mutko, there are about 1,500 Lanta-Tur clients abroad. They are having a hard time at the sunny beaches of Thailand, Vietnam and the Dominican Republic, being turned out of hotels and being forced to pay higher prices for their rooms. Putin said tourists that had paid in full for a package must not have their vacations ruined because their travel agent didn't pay the bills. He does not see signs of fraud in the agency's financial problems but has suggested an investigation.
"This travel agency has done well until now. At first glance, there is no evidence of any wrongdoing. For now, we should consider the problem as purely financial. Let's think about the easiest way to secure the interests of our people. We need to calculate the approximate costs. I have already discussed this with one of the state banks. They are ready to help, provided the money is repaid later," Putin said.
Mutko promised to analyse the problem and reach a settlement with the foreign hotels together with the Foreign Ministry. Representatives of both ministries have already arrived in Thailand and are trying to resolve the problems. Mutko promised Putin, "I will try to resolve all the problems tomorrow."
To which Putin responded: "What do you mean you will try? The bank is willing to help. So, we should consider this matter resolved. This company's contractors must be absolutely certain that its obligations will be fulfilled. The management of this travel agency is not evading its responsibility. It keeps in touch with you and is ready to work on this openly."
To prevent such predicaments in the future, Putin suggested establishing a self-regulatory organisation that could promptly resolve a similar problem. Mutko told Izvestia that his ministry has long insisted on this. He insists that this is essential because his ministry has no control over tour operators. Currently the ministry and its subordinate body Rosturism (the Federal Agency for Tourism) have no jurisdiction over private travel agencies. For example, they cannot revoke a license or assess a fine for this sort of failure in providing a contracted service. A self-regulating organisation could assume these functions.
Anastasia Novikova
