Twelve Belarusian travel agencies have been approved for getting visas for foreign citizens right at the Minsk airport and to make money on this, KYKY reports.
According to the article, Oskartur, Vizak, Dream Job, New Visa, New Flat, Olirti, Umno Tours, Bayling Tour, Golden Golf Group, Prestige Travel, Flamingo Travel, and Xaman Travel have been approved for such activities.
“Everyone else was just suspended from doing this. Even those travel agencies that had already sold tours to foreign citizens, and now find themselves unable to fulfill their obligations. In fact, there was formed a state-induced monopoly – or rather, a monopoly prompted by certain officials,” KYKY writes.
According to the article, “there is some dirt on almost every director of such firms.”
According to Belsat sources, the most audacious of the above companies are “Oscar Tour” and “Vizak,” founded by Iraqi citizens. Their representatives like Dzmitry Korabau, a former policeman, can freely enter the “security zone” of the airport with computers and printers in order to make visa applications at special prices.
“An individual visa for a foreign tourist at Minsk airport costs 180 euros, but if you make a collective application for 50-60 people, the cost of the visa is reduced to 30 euros per person – if the application is filed by a travel agency. The math is simple: representatives of the privileged companies pick up “tourists” right from the plane, charge tham 180 euros per person, on paper, put these people into groups and submit collective applications. The consulate collects a fee of EUR 30 per person, and the difference of EUR 150 is pocketed by the intermediaries – this amount is given in cash and is not taxed. Today Minsk airport receives about 500 such “tourists” per day, so it is 150 euros multiplied by 500 people. That’s 75 thousand euros per day or more than 2.2 million euros per month, which never reach the consulate,” say the sources of KYKY.
The tourists arriving contrary to the law without any documents can get these documents made on the spot by “OscarTur” and “Vizak” for 2,000 USD. According to their price tag, you can fill in and print out a visa application form for $25-50 (depending on the available documents), a working Belarusian SIM card costs $100, while the money can be changed at the rate of $100 for 100 rubles.
“There is no other way to pay for the services of an intermediary, take a picture on the spot, or buy insurance,” says the source.
“OskarTur” and “Vizak” have allegedly brought 5-7 interpreters of the Arabic language to the “security zone” of the airport. They are not employees of these firms. All the money is quietly taken out of the airport right under the noses of our valiant border guards.
belsat.eu
