'I am inclined to think that SverdlovEnergoSbyt is not empowered to prevent people with large unpaid electricity bills from going abroad,’ Deputy Director of Bosfor Travel Agency Alexei Petrov said to UrBC.

'It’s highly unlikely in the first place that someone might have a debt comparable to the cost of traveling to another country. I believe there are very few people in the entire country. Moreover, people who cannot afford to pay their housing bills due to dire financial circumstances normally cannot afford to go abroad either. In whichever case, even if the government agrees to this travel ban, it is not going to affect either the tourist flow or the travel agents’ profits,’ Mr. Petrov explained.

In the meantime, SverdlovEnergoSbyt made a list of its debtors and sent it to the regional officers of justice asking to impose a travel ban on people with large unpaid electricity bills who don’t seem to be even trying to pay them.