Macedonia Exempts Visa Requirements for Russians

Macedonia Prime Minister Nicola Gruevski has announced exemption of visa requirements for the visitors from Russia who will be staying for less than one year in a bid to boost tourism in the country.

The Prime Minister said in an interview with ITER-TASS, “In our opinion, this will become the latest step in our efforts to attract Russian tourists to our republic. Macedonia is the cradle of Slavic culture and written language.”

Macedonia Prime Minister is visiting Russia and wants to deepen trade and investment ties with the host country.  He said, “We believe that we will take the chance to meet with representatives of the Russian companies, with whom we will discuss the possibilities for investments in Macedonia.”

He said, “Macedonians are interested in delivering quality wine to the Russian market and receiving Russian investment in the Macedonian energy sector, which would help pay off Moscow’s clearing debt to Skopje from the initial construction of the gas grid in Macedonia by Stroitransgaz.”

The other former Yugoslav states Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro let the Russian citizens enter the country for  30 days without requiring visa, while Croatia and Kosovo allow 90 days visa-free travel to Russians.

The new visa free policy for the Russian citizens wishing to travel to Macedonia will provide the longest period of stay to stay in Macedonia without obtaining the visa.

The waiver of visa requirements will make it easier for the Russian business persons to travel to Macedonia to conduct business and improve the trade ties between the two countries. However, the true benefit of the policy will only be observed if Russia also reciprocate it with similar visa-free regime for Macedonians.

Tags: Macedonia, Macedonian visa, Russia, Tourist Visa, Visa Free Travel, visit visa