adminyesterday.
Athletes are due to pour into Russia in their droves over the next five years, with next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2018 football World Cup the two biggest draws.
“Participants in international sporting competitions. . . can enter and exit the Russian Federation without applying for visas on the basis of existing documents that confirm their identity and are accepted by the Russian Federation,” a Kremlin statement said.
The decree entered into force immediately.
Athletes, coaches and medical staff must be in possession of official accreditation by competition organizers to qualify for visa-free status, the statement said.
The government is to publish regulations on how long those without visas may remain in the country, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Russia hopes to agree on a visa-free travel regime with all Latin American countries in the next few years, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said yesterday.
“We and our partners should complete the work to make the entire region a no-visa zone for our citizens in the next few years,” he told the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament.
Russia has already signed visa-free entry agreements with a number of South American nations, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guiana, Peru and Venezuela.
Russia has also simplified its visa regime with Surinam and Bolivia, where Russian nationals get entry visas upon arrival at the border.
Ryabkov also said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet the foreign ministers of Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba and Haiti on May 29 in Moscow. — RIA Novosti.
Online Reporter