MINSK, 31 August (BelTA) – Long outgoing truck queues that regularly happen at the Belarusian border with the European Union were discussed during a meeting of Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Chairman of the State Customs Committee Vladimir Orlovsky on 31 August, BelTA has learned.
Vladimir Orlovsky told reporters after the meeting: “The problem with queues was also discussed with the head of state. I told him that the not always smooth operation of our colleagues on the other side of the border is the main reason for the truck queues at the border. It is particularly obvious in the Lithuanian direction. Queues happen and they can become rather long on weekends.”
The official said that in this situation the Belarusian side has to help truck drivers and shipping companies by enabling comfortable conditions for them. “The head of state gave the relevant instructions,” Vladimir Orlovsky said. “If we cannot do anything and cannot affect the work of our colleagues in any way, then we try to enable conditions for people to wait their turn to cross the border on our side.”
The official said that a digital queue has already been enabled this year at the busiest Belarusian-Lithuanian border checkpoint Kamenny Log – Medininkai. Drivers can rest and wait for their turn to cross the border over there. Moreover, the Lithuanian border checkpoint Medininkai is undergoing reconstruction. Its throughput capacity has been halved. This is why the digital queue was made available. The digital queue will also be made available for the border checkpoint Benyakoni this year, the official said.
The head of the Belarusian customs service also told mass media about the agency's efforts to replenish revenues of the central state budget. In January-August 2021 the sum of payments controlled by the customs service exceeded the figure registered in January-August 2020 by 25%. A total of Br6.4 billion was transferred to the central state budget as of 27 August, Br1.3 billion up from last year. The head of state said he wants the customs service to keep doing better than last year in order to replenish the state budget as much as possible, Vladimir Orlovsky said.
In his words, the conversation also touched upon ways to ensure Belarus' transit appeal. The head of state gave instructions to continue developing the border infrastructure and reducing customs control time. However, the customs service must not lose control over freight traffic and cannot allow smuggling and economic crimes at the border. And certainly the customs service will continue counteracting the most dangerous kinds of crimes such as the smuggling of narcotics, weapons, and ammunition, the head of the Belarusian customs service concluded.
