Since early 2011 the number of staff at the consulates of Italy reduced

From 1 January 2011 will be fired all the employees of the National Agency for Tourism of Italy (ENIT), now working at the consulates in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Minsk, Yerevan and Astana. In the diplomatic mission will remain its employees, but without assistance from ENIT for consideration of visa applications will take longer. With such a warning was made by the head of ENIT Carlo Biraski. According to him, the dismissal is due to economic difficulties. All in all diplomatic missions had 34 people, 16 of whom helped get visas for Russian citizens in Moscow. A few years ago to get an Italian visa was difficult because of long queues, according to Interfax. As recalled working at the direction of tour operators, the situation returned to normal only in 2004 when ENIT specifically earmarked to help their employees of the consulate. Then, in 2008, Italy started to open in Russia visa centers, which also lifted the burden from employees of the consulate. Nevertheless, this country is among the ten most popular areas of mass overseas holiday Russians. According to the Federal State Statistics Service, only the first six months of this year's tourist flow here has increased by 35% - from 144 thousand to 194.6 thousand. Will there be enough left in the embassy officials for prompt consideration of applications, it will become clear in the next year, but for those planning a trip for early next year, it makes sense to apply in advance.