The first ski resorts in Russia have opened in the Kemerovo and Khabarovsk Krai regions, marking the beginning of the early winter season. Around this time a year ago, the Russian market experienced a substantial rise in demand for winter sporting goods equipment, as many Russian skiers were prevented from traveling abroad to the ski resorts in the Alps or to distant beach resorts, but this may not be the case for the current season due to the strict coronavirus-related restrictions being introduced in the country amid record-breaking mortality rates.
Some Russian regions have already decided to impose mandatory QR codes for vaccination to travel on inter-city or international rail and air services, as well as to visit ski resorts. The Russian government has recently submitted legislation to the Russian Parliament seeking to require QR-codes for access to mass public events, eateries, retail stores and cultural institutions, as well as trains and planes from Feb. 1, 2022.
There is growing evidence that the strictest measures are here to stay, as the daily count of new cases of Covid-19 remains close to 40,000 in the country, with more than 1,000 people dying every day. As less than 35 percent of the Russian population has been vaccinated to date, the QR code system would bar the way to the ski resorts for most of the country’s residents.
