Armenians with negative Covid-19 test to be able to enter Russia

Armenian citizens will be able to enter Russia starting February 1.

In order to cross the border, Armenian citizens will need to download the application called ‘Traveling Without Coronavirus’ to their mobile phones and upload a negative test result to the app.

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New rules

“Due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, certain travel restrictions were introduced in 2020. Since then, many of our compatriots have raised the issue of restoring air routes with Russia, as a lot of them travel to Russia for work”, Armenian PM Pashinyan said during a cabinet meeting.

Pashinyan added that Armenia has been negotiating the issue with its Russian partners at the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) since last year, and an agreement has finally been reached with the launching of the new Travel Without Covid-19 programme.

The governments of Armenia and Russia have already approved this decision. An entry permit will be granted to citizens of EAEU member states for the period between February 1 to March 1.

The Eurasian Economic Union operates under the leadership of Russia and consists of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The organization provides its members with freedom of movement of labor, goods, services, and capital.

The new legislation allows citizens of Armenia and Belarus to enter Russia.

The appendix to this decree indicates specific airports through which citizens of the EAEU member states will temporarily be able to enter Russia.

The list includes the Moscow airports – Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, and Vnukovo – as well as the airports of St. Petersburg, Sochi, Novosibirsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg, Kazan,and Grozny.

Why do Armenians travel to Russia?

Irina Tyurina, press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, presented statistics on the main purposes for which Armenian citizens travel to Russia. Tyurina said that in 2019, more than 816,000 people entered Russia from Armenia.

“Most came for personal reasons (410,800 people), followed by visitors who come here to work (170,400), as well as guests visiting for business purposes (145,700). Finally, it should be mentioned that only 12,600 Armenian citizens visited Russia as tourists”, Tyurina explained.