Processing of trucks through Kapitan Andreevo border crossing resumed

Türkiye resumed the processing of heavy goods vehicles at Kapitan Andreevo border crossing shortly after midnight, on November 18. However, the queue remains huge - it is nearly 30 km long. Last night the queue had reached as far as Harmanli.

The Turkish customs administration stopped processing trucks from 21.00 on Saturday due to the introduction of the introduction of a new transit information system. The new system was due to go live at 7.00am yesterday, but this did not happen. The disrupted traffic caused a 40-kilometer queue on Maritsa Motorway.

This is one of the first customs information systems of the EU, connecting 36 countries, including Türkiye. Bulgaria implemented the system in August 2023, but there were no disruptions in the processing of heavy goods vehicles.

"20 minutes after midnight the Turkish customs administration resumed the processing of trucks. First in the direction from Bulgaria to Türkiye, and shortly before 1.00 a.m. also in the direction from Türkiye to Bulgaria, after the Phase 5 of the European transit system NCTS was introduced. The data on the processed trucks at the customs checkpoint "Kaptain Andreevo" as at 6:00 a.m. is slightly over 700 trucks processed. About 3000 trucks in both directions are processed per day in normal operation. Currently the checkpoint is operating at full capacity. Trucks heading to Türkiye are processed on 6 lanes and trucks entering Bulgaria on 8 lanes," said Diana Markova, Public Relations Expert at the Customs Agency.

It is one of the EU's first customs information systems and brings together 36 countries, including Türkiye. The Bulgarian version of the transit system "Phase 5" was implemented in August last year with no problems with the processing of trucks.

Drivers travelling on Maritsa motorway should drive with caution when approaching Lyubimets as the queue of trucks is quite large and reaches there.