More Than 3 Million Russians Can’t Travel Abroad Due To Unpaid Debt

More than 3 million Russians face foreign travel bans as of the end of 2019 due to unpaid financial debt, Interfax reported, citing data from the Federal Service of Court Bailiffs.

Throughout last year, nearly 8 million Russians were placed on the temporary travel ban list, with about two-thirds of them extinguishing their debt by the end of the year, leaving 3.2 million penalized debtors.

Their combined debt is the equivalent of $24 million.

Temporary travel restrictions are enforced when debt to a financial or judicial institution equals 30,000 rubles ($475) or more.

At the same time, Russians owe $2.4 billion in alimony back payments as of January 1 -- a historic high for the nation.

Currently, there are 806,000 active court cases related to unpaid alimony with an average debt equaling $2,993.

Courts can also order travel restrictions for unpaid alimony on a case-by-case basis.