Citizens of Ukraine are asked to refrain from traveling to Kazakhstan in connection with the introduction of a state of emergency in the period from January 5 to January 19, 2022, the Embassy of Ukraine in Kazakhstan said.
“In connection with the introduction of a state of emergency from January 5 to January 19, 2022 in Almaty, Almaty and Mangystau regions, we recommend that you refrain from arriving in Kazakhstan, and citizens in Kazakhstan should refrain from visiting crowded places during the state of emergency in the country,” the Embassy said on its Facebook page.
As reported, protest rallies against the sharp increase in prices for liquefied gas began in Kazakhstan in Zhanaozen (a city in Mangystau region in western Kazakhstan) on January 2. They then escalated into massive protests across the country with economic and political demands. On January 4, protesters clashed with security officials in Almaty.
President of the country Kassym-Jomart Tokayev introduced a state of emergency in Almaty, Mangystau and Almaty regions for the period until January 19 and a curfew, which will operate from 23:00 to 07:00.
On the morning of January 5, the government of Kazakhstan was dismissed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (MFA) has prepared answers to common travel questions in 2021 and said where the most up-to-date information on entry to the countries could be found.
“If you are planning a trip abroad for business or leisure, be sure to check the entry regime and the documents you need,” the ministry said on its website on Monday.
In particular, in the section (https://mfa.gov.ua/pres-centr/informacijni-kampaniyi/shcho-treba-znati-pro-podorozhi-za-kordon-vidpovidi-na-poshireni-pitannya) answers to questions about where to find out about open countries and border crossing conditions, whether visa-free travel works, what documents are needed to travel abroad, how to protect yourself from risks while traveling abroad.
Among other things, the ministry said where the most up-to-date information could be found on which countries were allowed to enter, whether it was possible to transit the territory of a country to which entry was prohibited during a pandemic, where a list of approved vaccines could be found for entering the country, where to do the PCR test before departure, to have it accepted in another country when digital COVID-19 certificates will work in Ukraine, and whether they will be recognized in the EU and the world, whether it is necessary to arrange insurance for travel, where to go in case of a critical situation abroad.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia wants at least 50% of tourists traveling throughout Ukraine to choose the railway, head of Ukrzaliznytsia Volodymyr Zhmak said.
“In these conditions, we pay attention to domestic tourism, since external tourism is going through hard times. Ukrzaliznytsia considers domestic tourism to be one of those directions that can develop and bring funds to the Ukrainian economy. We want to reach a target of 50% of all tourists who travel in Ukraine. Encourage them to change buses to our comfortable passenger cars,” Zhmak said during a roundtable with the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine and tour operators in Kyiv on Thursday.
The head of Ukrzaliznytsia said that the company is already working in this direction.
“We are already lowering the cost of tickets in the first class, we provide a flexible system of discounts for the redemption of tickets long before the departure date. In addition, we reduce a group booking rate. If earlier tour operators had to pay UAH 200 for a tourist of the group, then we reduce it to UAH 80. And then we will introduce a scale: the larger the group, the less you [tour operators] pay for each member of the group,” he said.
