ATOR called the halt in the sale of tours to Abkhazia an educational work

Vice-President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) Artur Muradyan told Gazeta.Ru on December 13 that Russian tourists cannot visit Abkhazia due to restrictions on tourist flow. He called it an "educational process".

"So far Abkhazians are resisting the approval of those norms that led to the resignation of their president [when Russia would have received preferential treatment], so there is an educational work with Abkhazian business - deprivation of tourist traffic from Russia, which was the main article of income of the republic. Russian operators are currently banned from selling tours in Abkhazia," Muradyan said.

According to him, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development issued a ban on selling tours to Abkhazia to tour operators. The ban is valid until it is canceled. In 2024 it is unlikely to wait for the ban to be lifted. It is also important to take into account that this does not prevent tourists from buying tickets to Abkhazia and paying for accommodation on their own.

Vice-President of ATOR pointed out that the demand of tourists for Abkhazia will not fall to zero, because there are those "who, as they say, and the problems with electricity do not interfere, and in general they have already planned everything.

Earlier, on December 3, deputies of the Abkhazian parliament voted against ratification of the agreement on investments of Russian legal entities in the republic.

On November 15, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Russian citizens were advised to refrain from traveling to Abkhazia. According to her, the opposition of Abkhazia refused a civilized approach to the settlement of differences with the legitimate authorities of the country, provoking an escalation of the conflict.

On the same day, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development recommended tour operators to temporarily suspend the sale of tours to Abkhazia.

On November 11, eyewitnesses reported clashes near the building of the State Security Service of Abkhazia. Later, Abkhazian Prosecutor General Adgur Agrba said that operatives identified, detained and placed several people in the temporary detention center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, later they were released.

Later, on November 15, protests were held in Sukhumi in front of the building of the parliament of the republic.