Farewell Pavel is set in two cities. In Rotterdam we follow the Russian reporter Alexej Petrov. He stays in a poor hotel for an investigation into Russian ships that have been detained and writes an article about trafficking in women. His contact with a Russian prostitute gets him into trouble when he tries to arrange a fake passport for her. While Alexej in the west becomes entangled in a criminal web, in St. Petersburg Alexej's 14-year-old son Pavel longs for his father and takes his first steps on the love path.