Finance Ministry Develops Comprehensive Strategy for Crossing Bulgaria's Borders

Diana Dukovska, Hristo Vodenov

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova at an extraordinary sitting of Parliament, September 17, 2024 (BTA Photo/Hristo Kasabov)

Sofia,

17.09.2024 21:28

(BTA)

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova Tuesday said Bulgaria does not have a comprehensive strategy for its border checkpoints and the adjacent infrastructure. The Finance Ministry and the Customs Agency are now developing such a strategy to modernize border checkpoints, eliminate bottlenecks and ensure effective border control.

The Kapitan Andreevo and Lesovo checkpoints on the border with Turkiye handle 32% of all trucks transiting this country. At Kapitan Andreevo, an average of 2,855 trucks were handled per day in 2023. Before entering Bulgaria, they stop for checks in Turkiye which take the same time as in Bulgaria. The situation at Lesovo is similar, with an average of 1,330 trucks handled per day (56 per hour) in 2023.

At the Romanian border, traffic delay is due to slower handling on the Romanian side, Petkova said. There, each truck is checked with a device which takes between 10 and 15 minutes. The Romanian officers often ask for the truck traffic to be halted so they can handle it. Now the Danube Bridge at Ruse is being repaired, which further slows down traffic.

Truck tailbacks at Kulata on the border with Greece are due to the infrastructure limitations of the checkpoint and the heavy car traffic during the tourist season and on weekends and holidays.

These problems have persisted for many years but have not been discussed. The infrastructure at the border checkpoints dates back to the 1980s. Bulgaria's border checkpoints were planned to handle 2 million vehicles a year. Traffic has increased over the years and at present, 4.7 million vehicles cross the borders, but the infrastructure is unchanged. By 2029, traffic is expected to increase to 10 million vehicles per year. This calls for an urgent upgrade of border checkpoints, said Petkova.

Between 2024 and 2032, the Customs Agency is planning to upgrade and expand the checkpoints on the borders with Turkiye, Serbia and the Republic of North Macedonia and the approaches to them. As regards the border with Turkiye, there are plans to overhaul the Kapitan Andreevo, Lesovo and Malko Tarnovo checkpoints by 2026, which includes modernizing the truck lanes, increasing them from 3 to 7 at the entrance and from 6 to 8 at the exit, and putting in place new disinfection facilities. At the same time, a new Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint needs to be built to the north of the existing one, with a new two-level road junction to connect it to the Maritsa Motorway.

The Customs Agency has two projects for digitization measures to increase throughput at the checkpoints.

The Queue Management System project is for outbound trucks only. It provides for the reservation of a time slot at a specific border checkpoint. For instance, a truck driver entering Bulgaria at Ruse can book a time slot at Kapitan Andreevo via a mobile application. The driver will choose the waiting area without waiting in a specific parking lot.

The Traffic Management System will direct trucks to a less congested route. This will also prevent corrupt practices such as the selection of a specific team at a border checkpoint, Petkova explained.

Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev has tasked a working group with finding solutions to bottlenecks at border checkpoints, which has until September 30 to draw up a report. The conclusions may be presented to the National Assembly if needed, the Finance Minister said.

Petkova and other ministers appeared at an extraordinary sitting of Parliament. They were given a hearing on problems at the borders with Greece, Turkiye and Romania, and the initiative of Greece and Turkey to find an alternative transport corridor which bypasses Bulgaria.

/VE/