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Ingosstrakh says no notice about Lanta Tur Voyage’s problems yet

“We have issued financial guarantees to this company for 100 million roubles"

MOSCOW, January 28 (Itar-Tass) —— The troubled tour operator Lanta Tur Voyage has so far not informed its insurer Ingosstrakh of its financial problems.

“We have issued financial guarantees to this company for 100 million roubles. But we have not received any information from them yet as to what has happened,” Ingosstrakh spokesman Vladimir Kleimenov told Russian News Service radio said on Saturday, January 28.

“Our specialists are aware of the situation and are trying to find the [Lanta Tur Voyage] director-general in order to find out what has happened,” he added.

He confirmed that Ingosstrakh would perform all of its obligations if it gets such a request from the tour operator.

Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism) spokesman Oleg Moseyev told Itar-Tass that about 3,000 people can be affected by the suspension of Lanta Tur Voyage’s operations.

Rostourism has set up a crisis hotline -- 7 /495/ 607-71-17 – where Lanta Tur Voyage customers can get consultation. Lanta customers started calling shortly thereafter. “One of the calls came from Goa; tourists asked what they should do because their return tickets had not been paid for”, Moseyev said.

About 500 tourists cannot fly out of Goa because of Lanta Tur Voyage’s bankruptcy.

A spokesman for the Russian Consulate General in Mumbai, Roman Vorobyov, told Itar-Tass that the mission is doing its best to help the Russian citizens and maintain contact with the hotels they are staying in.

Russian diplomats have asked “the administration of Goa’s airport to provide all possible assistance to the Russian tourists”.

Goa, located in the southwest of India, is one of the most popular vacation destinations among Russian tourists. In late December 2011 alone, some 5,000-10,000 Russians spent their vacations there.

The consular section of the Russian Embassy in Thailand has also been getting complaints from Lanta Tur Voyage’s customers, but “there is no squall of appeals yet”, Embassy Press Secretary Vitaly Anopov told Itar-Tass.

Lanta Tur Voyage customers say that they are not allowed to board planes at the airport because their tickets have not been paid for.

The consulate is trying to get more accurate information on the number of tourists who are vacationing in Thailand on vouchers issued by the bankrupt tour operator.

Moseyev said that the Lanta Tur Voyage situation differs from that with Capital Tour several years ago. “There is a serious insurance company that will try to fufill all of its obligations to the customers. We hope that the insurance coverage [of 100 million roubles] will be enough to meet the customers’ claims,” Moseyev said.

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