U.S. citizens can no longer buy Ukrainian visas at Kyiv airport (08/10/97)

U.S. citizens can no longer buy Ukrainian visas at Kyiv airport

by Khristina Lew
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Foreigners arriving at Kyiv's international airport without a Ukrainian visa are no longer permitted to purchase one at the border, but the directive appears to target U.S. citizens.

In the last week the consular section of the U.S. Embassy to Ukraine has received about 10 telephone calls from American citizens who were unable to purchase visas at Boryspil International Airport. The German Embassy and the Japanese Embassy reported no such calls.

On August 6 Serhii Zaitsev, information assistant at the United States Information Service in Kyiv, said the U.S. Embassy's consular section was in the process of looking into the matter and that "a lot of people in the consular section are working with the Ukrainian government."

An official at Boryspil Airport's consular section on August 7 confirmed that for the last three weeks some 20 Americans arriving at the airport were not permitted to purchase visas and were sent back to the Western European cities where their flights originated.

Germans, however, are still permitted to purchase Ukrainian visas at Boryspil. The official explained that Ukraine and Germany have good relations, and therefore, "if a German arrives at Boryspil without a visa, we will allow him to purchase one."

The U.S. government, on the other hand, "follows the letter of the law. They expect us to adhere to their laws, so we request that they follow ours," he said.

Although Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had announced in December 1996 that foreigners traveling to Ukraine from countries that have Ukrainian embassies and consulates must buy visas prior to their arrival, the regulation was not enforced and visas were readily purchased at Boryspil airport for $160.

According to an employee of Austrian Airlines, on August 4 an American traveling on the airline without a Ukrainian visa was sent back to Vienna. Boryspil airport began turning away passengers in July, at which time Austrian Airlines issued an advisory to all countries where it flies that passengers bound for Ukraine should purchase visas beforehand.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Lufthansa issued similar advisories.

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially responded to the visa scandal on August 7 by reiterating that in December 1996 it had informed all embassies and representatives of international organizations in Ukraine that visas can no longer be purchased at the Ukrainian border. In that directive, the ministry confirmed that visas can be purchased at Boryspil International Airport only by those travelers whose countries do not have Ukrainian consular points.

An official in the consular section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs admitted the directive had not been strictly enforced at the time but that "gradually, it was put into practice." The fact that many Americans travel to Ukraine in the summer months is a "coincidence," the official added.

A Ukrainian visa can be purchased for $50 in any country that has a Ukrainian Embassy or Consulate. There are currently 64 countries that have a Ukrainian representation. The United States has three: the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, the Consulate General of Ukraine in New York and the Consulate General of Ukraine in Chicago.

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