[Asick]

Originally Posted by Effendi

It's the same for us "westerners" if we want to travel around CIS countries, we need a different VISA for every country, making the journey very expensive and complicated.

Look, here's a difference. Europe is integrating while CIS is disintegrating, so CIS is called here 'a union for the correct divorce'. Also, not all the combinations of CIS countries allow visa free traffic. For example, Russians need visas to enter Georgia or Turkmenistan as well as people of these countries need visas to enter Russia. So, it's not like EU, far from that. I guess one day 'westeners' will not need visas for most of the western exUSSR (including Russia and Caucasus) while visas still will be needed for Central Asia.

Originally Posted by Effendi

BTW, I fear won't come to St.Petersburg this time as well... at the travel agency they told me to book after Christmas, but now that damned Lufthansa has cancelled that great offer for flying to Russia

Oh, that's so sad. Don't you have any other options? I hope there's still something that you could use. Have you ever considered trains? AFAIK there's one going from Venice to Moscow, may be it's not that expensive.