Ukrainian tour operator News Travel (Kyiv) as of January 16, 2015 owed SAYAMA Travel Group Co., Ltd. (Thailand) around $106,000, and the Ukrainian operator has recognized the debt.

According to an official report from the Thai tour operator issued on Monday, the operational debt under contracts with SAYAMA Travel Group's partners could amount to an additional $50,000.

"Top managers at SAYAMA Travel Group are indignant over false statements made by top managers at News Travel that all services provided by the accepting company in Thailand are paid and that SAYAMA Travel Group is allegedly blackmailing tourists by trying to obtain double [repeated] payment for the services," the Thai company said.

"SAYAMA Travel Group for three days has been settling the issues of payment for services provided to tourists by hotels and other partners of our company that were left unpaid by News Travel company, mainly using their own money," the tour operator added.

SAYAMA Travel Group is indignant at the actions of News Travel's managers who on January 16, 2015 continued to take payments from tourists and companies that had ordered travel services whilst hiding information about the financial state of the company.

The company said that on January 16, 2015, News Travel announced the suspension of its operation from January 17, 2015, and that News Travel had created a pseudo-call center which explained to tourists that their tours had been paid in full.

SAYAMA Travel Group intends to ask international companies to prepare claims for courts, and in the short term to collect the debt and protect the reputation of the company.

The Thai company expressed hope that the situation will be assessed without bias, especially in European legislation, the standards of which Ukraine is moving towards.

The Ukrainian tour operator has recognized the debt owed to the Thai company.

News Travel said that the company proposed to resolve the issue legally and to not use tourists as pressure, and that the company’s operation had not been suspended, though tourists are no longer travelling abroad with the company.

"At present, News Travel has opened a hotline in Thailand and tourists can call to receive support," the tour operator said.