MINSK, 19 October (BelTA) – Representatives of the State Customs Committee of Belarus have made a few comments in response to reports about long vehicle queues at border checkpoints, BelTA has learned.
According to Belarus' Customs, sources behind those reports are unwilling to look for true reasons behind the queues and refuse to try to understand how border checkpoints work. Representatives of the customs service said: “The trucks are not stuck in a traffic jam, they move constantly. Checkpoints on the Belarusian side of the border work smoothly and clear vehicles regularly. But if a neighboring country refuses to allow the cleared vehicles to cross the border, the Belarusian side runs out of parking space for trucks.”
The throughput capacity of checkpoints on the Belarusian side of the border varies: 400 trucks per day in the direction of Latvia, 1,230 trucks per day in the direction of Lithuania, 2,280 trucks in the direction of Poland, and 512 trucks in the direction of Ukraine. “Let's use the Lithuanian direction as an example. There were about 700 trucks in front of border checkpoints as of 12:00. They will be cleared today and new trucks will replace them. The border works, there are no traffic jams,” the source noted.
Lithuania is one of the most popular destinations because it has no restrictions on fuel import. A digital queuing system is also used at some Belarusian-Lithuanian border checkpoints, too. The system informs drivers when they can enter a border checkpoint. Service zones also allow drivers to rest and relax in comfort.
“By the way, this morning about 40% of the semi-trucks opted to cross the Belarusian border via the checkpoints where a digital queue system is available: Grigorovshchina and Urbany in the Latvian direction, Kotlovka in the Lithuanian direction, Bruzgi and Brest in the Polish direction. The heavy traffic situation can be explained by the constantly rising volume of freight transportation. Bearing it in mind, the Belarusian side constantly works to increase the throughput capacity of border checkpoints via their modernization and reconstruction,” the source stressed.
Belarus' Customs also mentioned COVID-19 as another reason for the heavy traffic situation. Neighboring countries have closed a number of border checkpoints due to the coronavirus infection, thus increasing the workload of the remaining ones. Lithuania has closed two out of six checkpoints at the Belarusian border, Poland has closed two out of six, and Ukraine has closed five out of 12. Belarus' Customs also mentioned that the number of trucks intent on crossing the border rises on weekends and on Mondays as some forwarding agencies try to finish their business by the end of the week while other ones start working.
