‘Today’s opening of visa section in German Consulate-General in Yekaterinburg is a very happy event for us. We would like our tourists to have an opportunity of traveling to Germany, given especially the availability of direct flights from Yekaterinburg. Regional residents find going to Moscow for a visa interview expensive and inconvenient, so a visa section here is going to make trips to Germany much more affordable,’ Inna Averyanova, Director of Inna Tour Travel Agency, said to UrBC.

The solemn opening ceremony took place on March 6, 2007. The Consulate is already issuing Schengen visas, with applications accepted since February 27; there have been over a few hundred applications already.