Nizhny Novgorod Region is seeking to participate in a pilot project on guest houses.

      17 September 2025, 15:47

      [186]

      Culture and Leisure

      NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" - Maria Orlova

      A proposal to appeal to the State Duma with an initiative to amend the federal law governing the experimental legal regime for guest houses was voiced in the Legislative Assembly. The region hopes to be among the pilot regions where the model for regulating this sector will be tested until the end of 2027. This became known on 17 September at a meeting of the committee on economy, industry, support for entrepreneurship, trade and tourism, which initiated the appeal.

      As committee chairman Igor Norenkov noted, in accordance with federal law provisions, until 1 January 2025 accommodation facilities used for activities and the provision of services in the field of rural tourism were not subject to mandatory classification.

      "That precisely made it possible to regulate this direction at the level of regional legislation. However, as of 1 January 2025 that provision was declared void. At the same time, the regulation on the classification of accommodation facilities approved by the Government of the Russian Federation lacks a type of accommodation facility such as guest houses," he said.

      To date, about 50 facilities providing guest house services operate in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, but are formally outside the legal framework. They have created more than 150 jobs. If the region is not included in the experiment, these facilities risk falling under sanctions from regulatory authorities, despite their economic and social significance.

      According to Norenkov, the region had previously submitted an application to participate in the experiment, but did not make the initial list of Russian regions. That list included, in particular, the Altai Republic, Dagestan, Crimea, Krasnodar and Stavropol Krais, as well as several oblasts, including Arkhangelsk, Irkutsk and Kaliningrad.

      The Nizhny Novgorod initiative is aimed at the region officially joining the experiment from 1 March 2026. This will legalize existing forms of accommodation, ensure compliance with sanitary and fire safety standards, and create conditions for tax payments and tourism development.

      During the discussion, the need for a clear legal definition of the term "guest house" was emphasized in order to distinguish it from renting out housing. In the first case it is usually a dwelling in which the owners live, and part of it is used to temporarily accommodate tourists, often preserving the traditional rural way of life. In the case of renting, no one else lives in the dwelling.

      Committee representatives noted that participation in the experiment will allow regional legislation to be adapted to new requirements and support bona fide entrepreneurs. Otherwise, some facilities may be forced to cease operations due to non-compliance with federal norms.

      The draft resolution was approved and sent to the Legislative Assembly for consideration, reports NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" correspondent.

      Earlier it was reported that the creators of two hotels in Nizhny Novgorod's cultural heritage sites (OKN) received preferential loan terms.

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