Thousands
of tourists were left clueless and stranded as Russia’s one of the
oldest travel agencies, the Neva was declared bankrupted on Wednesday.
The St. Petersburg-based Neva was responsible for thousands of its
clients who are looking to get back to Russia and thousands who are
wondering how to get away.
The company’s founder and chairman, Sergei Timraliyev, blamed the closure on a “bad season,” that has been exacerbated by a sharp economic slowdown, and said that tourist agencies had become unprofitable due to increased competition and dumping on the market.
About 6,000 of Neva’s clients were on holiday outside Russia when the
company announced its bankruptcy, while between 17,000 and 20,000
people with bookings for future trips will be left ticketless, Irina
Tyurina, a spokeswoman for the Russian Tourism Union, told Gazeta.ru.
Neva, which has offices across European Russia, said in an online
statement that it would help clients stranded abroad get home in any way
possible, and offered them “moral support.”
Neva’s general director, Maxim Pirogov, told Vedomosti that the
company, founded at the dawn of Russian capitalism in 1990, is insured
by insurer Voskhozhdeniye for 454.2 million rubles ($13.2 million),
whereas the value of tours sold was below 400 million rubles ($11.6
million).
However, according to Tyurina, it is impossible to say whether
sufficient funds will be found to reimburse all of Neva’s clients in
full. According to its website, Voskhozhdeniye had capital of just 167.7
million rubles ($4.8 million) at the end of 2013, almost three times
less than Neva is insured for.
FOR ALL YOUR:
- DUBAI VISA
- HOTEL RESERVATION
- GROUP TOURS & PACKAGES
- SCHOOLS AND EDUCATIONAL EXCURSION TO ABUJA, OBUDU CATTLE RANCH, ABEOKUTA, BADAGRY, DUBAI, SOUTH AFRICA, GHANA, GAMBIA, UK, CANADA AND USA. ETC...
info@linksandtours.net
bookings@linksandtours.net
www.linksandtours.net
facebookpage:-https://www.facebook.com/linksandtours
08034708980, 08185601593
