MOSCOW — Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis wrapped up a four-day official visit to Russia on Friday.

Theoharis travelled to Moscow to meet with state officials and representatives of travel agencies ahead of a May 14 scheduled reopening of the tourism sector in Greece.

"We held discussions in a very cordial climate with the Russian Tourism Organization and mainly the Transportation Ministry, which is more relevant, to see how we could smooth the flights issue and allow the lifting of some restritctions even earlier – not all of them, naturally," Theoharis said.

The Greek minister also addressed concerns about whether Greece would recognize the Russian vaccine for incoming tourists. "We reassured them from the start that the decisions of our National Vaccination Committee include the Russian vaccine as equal to European ones for travel purposes, and therefore there is no issue for Russian nationals who are vaccinated – they can come without having to undergo a checking process and additional tests," he asserted.