Greek Tourism Minister Haris Theocharis wrapped up a four-day official visit to Russia on Friday.

Theocharis traveled to Moscow last Tuesday to meet with state officials and representatives of travel agencies ahead of a May 14 scheduled reopening of the tourism sector in Greece.

“We held discussions in a very cordial climate with the Russian Tourism Organization and mainly the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, which is more relevant, in order to explore how we could address the flights issue and allow some restrictions – not all of them, of course – to be lifted even earlier,” Theocharis said at the end of his visit.

The tourism minister also addressed concerns in Moscow over whether Greece would recognize Russian vaccines for incoming tourists.

“We reassured them from the outset that the decisions of our National Vaccination Committee include the Russian vaccine as equal to European ones for travel purposes, and therefore there is no issue for Russian nationals who are vaccinated. They can come without having to undergo a check and additional tests,” he asserted.

This article was first published on ekathimerini.com