Tragic Baikal Tour Operator Identified: Owner Once Sought Top Tourism Post

The woman behind the tour company that organized the fatal Lake Baikal excursion has been identified as Maria S., a 35-year-old entrepreneur who previously sought the region’s top tourism job. Her firm, Crystal Baikal, owned the amphibious vessel “Khivus” that capsized on May 19, claiming five lives, including the captain’s. The boat flipped just 30 meters from shore near Turtle Rock. According to Telegram channel Shot, Maria S. has run the business almost single-handedly for over a decade, and by 2025 her company ranked 12th in revenue across Buryatia. Several years ago, she even put herself forward as a candidate for Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Buryatia. Her husband, Sergey, a former head of the Turkino rural settlement, was fired in February 2026 for failing to declare funds in his wife’s bank account. The undeclared 3.4 million rubles were subsequently seized by the state, as reported by Telegram channel Mash. The tragedy has cast a harsh light on the operator’s history and raised questions about oversight in the region’s tourism sector.