Travel Notes

Travel Briefs

Siberia restrictions

CHITA — The parliament of Chita Region on the Chinese border has passed a law restricting visits by foreigners to 15 days. All foreigners staying longer than three days in the region will be required to register with the local militia. Though the law is aimed mainly at curbing forays by Chinese petty traders and smugglers, it will affect all foreigners. A similar law has been passed in the more westerly Omsk Region, bordering on Kazakhstan.

Lufthansa on the Volga...

NIZHNY NOVGOROD — The German company Lufthansa has become the first foreign airline to fly directly to the Volga city of Nizhny Novgorod. The company’s Boeings will stop there for 35 minutes twice weekly on the way from Frankfurt to Samara. As yet, the international terminal at Nizhny Novgorod’s Strigino airport is under construction, and the regional government is having problems finding the money for it. With economy class tickets selling for $1,084, few local residents are likely to be able to afford the new service.

...and air taxis on the Yenisei

KRASNOYARSK — Local air company Sibaviatrans has begun a new air taxi service, aimed at business people traveling to remote areas of Siberia. Flights will be carried out by a small Hokker jet, with a range of 5,000 km. Confident of success, the company is planning to purchase six similar planes to meet future demand.

International trains threatened

A series of robberies in Poland on Moscow-Berlin and Moscow-Brussels trains has prompted Russia’s Railway Ministry to consider suspending the two services. The robberies usually occur at night on trains coming from Russia, and target passengers with over $1,000 in cash. It is believed that the robbers receive information from sources on the Belarussian border, where passengers fill out customs declaration forms. So far, the Polish authorities have failed to provide extra security for these trains.

Service at last?

Moscow Region authorities have approved a $500 mn program to build 345 service complexes on roads in the environs of the city by the year 2000. There will be three types of complexes, ranging from single gas and service stations to centers which include shops, restaurants and motels. Most will be on such major roads as the Rossiya (Moscow-St. Petersburg) and the Ukraina (Moscow-Kiev) and at regular intervals — in the case of gas stations every 8-10 km.