Baltic States – CIS, Russia, Tourism

According to calculations of the Pskov officials, this would increase the flow of tourism coming from neighboring countries Estonia and Latvia three times, chair of the oblast's tourism committee, Olga Kachnova, said.

She added that tourists are hindered by the costliness of the Russian visa, which is why Pskov is interested both in issuing electronic visas to foreigners as well as implementing a three-day visa freedom for being in Pskov Oblast.

"Very many Latvian and Estonian residents are prepared to come to us, but the visa costs two or three times as much as the whole trip to Pskov. At present, a single entry visa costs 80 euros, this is a significant barrier," Kachnova said. 

In 2018, the oblast saw approximately one million excursion and 400,000 individual tourists. Of the tourists, a tenth came from abroad.