MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. The list of seaports in the Arctic and Russia’s Far East, where foreign tourist vessels are allowed to enter, needs to be expanded, Nikolay Patrushev, Presidential Aide, Chairman of the Russian Maritime Board, said at a meeting of the board.

Cruises in the Arctic seas are a promising tourist attraction, he said.

"However, foreign cruise ships can enter a limited number of Russian ports and port points. At that, a third of them are closed for tourists to go ashore," Patrushev outlined the problem.

According to him, even with more comfortable conditions on board, Russian and foreign tour operators cannot create a competitive product when using foreign-flagged vessels due to the lack of opportunities to visit the most attractive places for tourists on the most popular routes, including the coast of Chukotka, the Kuril Islands, the Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya archipelagos.

"In this regard, it is necessary to expand the list of ports in the areas of internal sea waters and the territorial sea of the Russian Federation adjacent to the territories of the subjects of the Russian Federation included in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and the Far Eastern Federal District, allowed for the entry of foreign tourist vessels," he said, adding that work is underway to change the list.

Patrushev also asked the meeting participants to assess the development of marine cruise tourism in the Far East and the Arctic, report on existing problems, and make suggestions on the measures aimed at organizing cruise services in the Far Eastern and Arctic regions.

Stricter entry of ships from foreign ports

The day before, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree tightening the procedure for ships entering Russian ports from foreign ports. Now it will be possible to do this with the permission of the captain of the Russian seaport, agreed with the FSB.

Before that, the rules were determined by the order of the Transport Ministry, under which a special procedure for the arrival of foreign vessels was applied in cases where the port had a water area adjacent to a naval base.