20 Oct 2022 09:42

Rostourism abolished, its functions to be transferred to Russian Economic Development Ministry

MOSCOW. Oct 20 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday abolishing the Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism) and transferring its functions to the Economic Development Ministry.

The presidential decree is available on the official website of legal acts.

The Economic Development Ministry supervised Rostourism starting from the fall of 2018, prior to which the agency reported to the Culture Ministry. Shortly after that, Dmitry Medvedev, who was Russia's prime minister at the time, replaced Oleg Safonov with Zarina Doguzova as head of Rostourism and ordered the Economic Development Ministry to oversee the agency's functions more actively. The deputy minister of economic development in charge of the tourism sector was then Sergei Galkin, who was appointed as director of the Russian Federal Statistics Service in the spring of 2022.

A source in the Economic Development Ministry told Interfax that a new deputy economic development minister in charge of the tourism sector will be appointed, and candidates for this post are still being discussed.

The government's press service said that Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin endorsed the changes to the Economic Development Ministry's structure that are needed to enable the ministry to fulfill its functions to further develop the country's tourism sector. In particular, the number of deputy economic development ministers was increased from 11 to 12, and the number of the ministry's departments from 35 to 37.

The Economic Development Ministry's press service also told reporters that, in accordance with the president's decree, the ministry will be responsible for working out and implementing state policy, statutory regulation, coordination of work with regard to priority avenues of state regulation in the tourism sector and will oversee the functioning of tour operators on behalf of the state.

"The ministry has all the necessary powers to develop and implement socioeconomic development programs, issue licenses and accredit legal entities and individual entrepreneurs that will help intensify the development of the tourism sector. The decision adopted by the president of the Russian Federation will help enhance the efficiency of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry national project, which involves 17 federal agencies, all of the country's regions and the business community," the ministry said.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko will continue to supervise the tourism sector on behalf of the government, it said.