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A social center in the central province of Khanh Hoa is asking authorities to help repatriate an indigent Russian national they can no long afford to care for.
Khanh Hoa Social Center said Kunznetsov Oleg, 45, has relied on the agency for months.
According to official sources, Oleg entered Vietnam in 2012 after his mother opened a retail business in the resort town of Nha Trang.
The business did not go very well and Oleg's mother died of a heart attack in 2013. Oleg continued to survive on the remainder of her savings, moving from a hotel to a cheap rented room as the funds dwindled.
Eventually, he began wandering tourist hotspots, begging for money.
The authorities eventually admitted him to the Khanh Hoa Mental Health Hospital after he began to show signs of emotional distress. Then he was later transferred to the Khanh Hoa Social Center.
Officials there say Oleg has claimed he has a sister named Lena living in Vietnam, but the local authorities have been unable to track her down.
Khanh Hoa Province’s Foreign Affairs Department has been working with Russian agencies to find a way to get Oleg back home.
However, Russia's Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City says they've been unable to locate any of Oleg's relatives in Russia.
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