Hundreds queue for summer camp passes on Samara's 9th Просека

The sale of summer commercial passes for the Volzhsky Artek children«s camp on 9th Просеka turned into a scandal. People formed a giant queue, taking their places from half past five in the morning, and still not everyone got one. Many were left dissatisfied.

«I confirm, I was there today and managed to grab a pass. I arrived at 7:30 a.m., and for 500 meters in both directions there was nowhere to park. Rumor has it, people started queuing from five a.m. Even though the opening was at 8:00 a.m., at 9:20 a.m. I received the coveted contract. Contracts for the first session ran out at 8:30 a.m., for the second at 8:50 a.m. It was not possible to download and fill out the contract at home in advance because the number of spots is limited,» a reader of 63.RU reported.

Our interlocutor clarified that a camp pass costs 37,000 rubles (approximately $411 at current rates). Today, it was the contract that was being processed—the money can be paid later, within 10 days.

In the camp«s social media group, many dissatisfied comments were found. Samara residents complain that the passes (strictly speaking, contracts) did not suffice for everyone.

«»352 children per session, 4 sessions. That makes 1,408 children for the summer. They let in a maximum of 50 people for passes... How many passes are allocated for sale at commercial price? Do you have cameras to see how many people passed through the gates? Why were contracts issued without confirming documents? Even if half the passes are sold at commercial price, that is 704 passes... About 50 people went through... So each of them took 14 contracts? I demand answers to my questions!« wrote outraged Irina Davydova.

«»We took time off work, stood in the cold for 2 hours and left with nothing! A very unpleasant situation,« echoed Lilia Mustafina.

Camp representatives responded to the indignant women«s questions:

«»Every year, more than 1,408 children vacation at the children«s camp. The passes are distributed as follows:

• For children of persons taking (or having taken) part in the special military operation, as well as children in difficult life situations—400;
• For children living in Samara Oblast—320;
• Municipal assignment—80;
• Commercial passes—608 (of which, contracts with organizations have been concluded for 252 passes).

Since the start of sales at 8:00 a.m., 356 passes were purchased by 9:50 a.m. Contract registration ended at 1:00 p.m. Currently, a waiting list is being formed for vacated spots,« answered Galina Tsetulina, director of the Volzhsky Artek children»s recreational camp, to the outraged mothers.

A Samara resident who «snagged» a pass told 63.RU that the registration procedure is as follows: first, you have to stand in line for the contract, which is handed out in two copies. One for the camp, the second for the parents.

«»Then, as a spot at a table freed up, you sit down and fill in the details. Then you have to stand in another line to register this contract. It is manually assigned a number and marked in a notebook. Until about 8:50 a.m., only one employee was handling registration and the queue didn«t move at all. Then a second one came to help, and things went faster. I left the building around 9:30 a.m., the registration queue was already ending on the street. Meanwhile, outside the camp, there were still a lot of people who wanted to get inside, but the security guards wouldn»t let them in, there really was no room left,« the man said.

According to the Samara resident, the camp«s »regular customers,« standing in line, said they were seeing this for the first time, and this year was somehow abnormal. There had never been such a frenzy over passes before.