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A Siberian court has held that a commonplace practice of charging foreigners more than Russians is illegal. But don’t expect prices to drop overnight here, say those fighting dual pricing in the Far East.

The higher charges for foreigners in many airlines, museums, and hotels violates the Russian Civil Code, the Central Regional Court in Novosibirsk stated.

In a lawsuit filed by Jochen Toepfer, a German citizen, the court held in March that Sibir airline should repay Toepfer the $41 difference between his $233 airfare and the rate Russians paid for a Novosibirsk to St. Petersburg flight last year. The court also awarded attorney’s fees.

Richard Sharko, partner-in-charge at the Vladivostok office of Price Waterhouse, an audit and business firm, praised Toepfer for raising a vexing issue. Sharko shrugs off some small price differences, such as the extra 5 rubles (83 cents) that foreigners pay at the Arseniev Museum. “If anything, I personally view it as a contribution,” he said.

But other prices are annoying, especially for foreigners who live and pay taxes in Russia, Sharko said. Last year, two Price Waterhouse employees, one foreign and one Russian, flew to Sakhalin, and the one-way business class airfare was nearly $800 for the foreigner – twice that the Russian paid.

“In hotels, to me, there should be no difference,” Sharko said. “I’m buying a service. In airlines, there should be no difference, but the guy sitting next to me is paying half the amount I do.”

Representatives of the Vladivostok International Businessmen’s Association have complained to the krai administration that dual pricing is unfair, a position supported by the U.S. Consulate.

Andrew Fox, chairman of Tiger Securities, recalls flying from Vladivostok to Moscow in 1991, and his $350 ticket cost more than the total airfare for the rest of the passengers on the plane (tickets to Moscow then cost Russians only $4 apiece).

Still, he said, prices have been evening out over the years, with Russians paying more now than they used to.

“I don’t think it’s really a big deal anymore,” he said. “It’s not something we’re going to fight.”

A few calls around Vladivostok revealed a number of differences, from the museum entrance price to airline flights. In its Vladivostok to Moscow flight, Domodedovskie Airlines charges Russians $300, while foreigners pay $433.

Alaska Airlines’ lowest round-trip rate from Vladivostok to Seattle, good for up to a one-month stay, is the same for foreigners and Russians: $859. But for a stay of up to three months, Russians can get a $924 fare, while foreigners pay $1,284.

Svetlana Popova, chief of the Krai Consumer Rights Committee, said complaints about dual pricing were news to her. It is illegal to charge a dual rate, she said.

“Your information is complete news to me,” said Popova. “We’re going to go to the Arseniev museum and check what documents they have to charge double.”

The same goes for airlines, especially if they charge their fee in dollars, Popova said.

The Arseniev Museum borrowed the practice of charging foreigners more from the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, said Irina Karginova, the museum’s deputy director. The Arseniev museum has always charged foreigners a higher price, she said.

Toepfer, the German who sued Sibir, wasn’t the first to file such a suit. In 1996, an American sued a Yekaterinburg hotel that charged her three times as much for her room as her Russian colleagues. The court ordered the government-run Oktyabrskaya Hotel to pay her 1 million rubles, about $180 at the time, and the hotel subsequently introduced a flat rate for Russians and foreigners alike.

Toepfer told the Moscow Times in an April 22 story that he was sick of being charged more. A consultant for a European Union-funded project in Perm, he figures he has spent $2,000 in surcharges for train tickets, airfares and hotels during the five years he has lived in Russia. “It wasn’t for the money that I took the airline to court,” Toepfer said. “It was the principle of the matter.”