V.Baranov

Problems with Detur arose at the end of June. Then it became known that its parent company, the Turkish-Austrian Vasco, had gone bankrupt. About 600 Russian tourists had problems with accommodation in Turkish hotels and returning to Russia. “There is no information about how many tourists were affected. There is still no contact with the management of Detur, the tour operator’s Moscow office is sealed, there is no access to documents,” says Vladimir Kantorovich, First Vice President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR). “Experts disagree on the number of tours sold by Detur, figures from 2,000 to 5,000 are cited, but the depth of sales reaches September,” says Irina Tyurina, press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (RUTI).

The tour operator's liability for 10 million rubles was insured by Rosno. Yesterday, the company distributed a press release in which it announced that "not all victims will be able to compensate for losses through financial security," since the amount of claims filed by tourists has already exceeded 18 million rubles. "Tourists' appeals are massive. The company has already received more than 1,200 phone calls, and about 200 applications have been accepted," a Rosno employee clarified.

On Tuesday, at a meeting at the Federal Service for Insurance Supervision, representatives of Rosno and ATOR discussed how to get out of this situation. The law "On the Fundamentals of Tourist Activity in the Russian Federation" states that if the amount of claims exceeds the amount of the insurance guarantee, the money is divided proportionally between all applicants. At the same time, tourists must apply at the same time, which is impossible to do in the situation with Detur. "Applications from victims began to arrive on June 30, their number increases daily. Thus, it is impossible to record simultaneity and, therefore, legally apply the proportion," Rosno explained.

Tyurina from RST names another problem: for tourists who bought their travel packages in advance, an insured event will occur, for example, in August-September. And they have the smallest chance of getting anything.

As a way out of the situation, Kantorovich suggested sending tourists with Detur packages for August-September through tour operators who are members of ATOR. "I don't understand how to implement such an initiative. Detur wasn't even a member of our association," wonders Vladimir Vorobyov, president of Natalie Tours. In his opinion, to prevent such problems, the amount of financial guarantees should be increased to 50 million rubles. "If a company like Detur goes bankrupt, the damage will be covered. I wouldn't be surprised if a number of other companies have similar problems by the end of the year. This year has been extremely unfortunate for the industry," concludes Vorobyov. The parties agreed to continue consultations to resolve the problem.

There wasn't enough money