Road hauliers demand meeting with finance minister over border checks problem

Road hauliers seek a meeting with the finance minister after huge queues of lorries formed at the border crossings with Romania on Friday and Saturday. Some drivers waited for a whole day before continuing on their way.

This week, the road hauliers expect a meeting with the finance minister to overcome the problem with the checks at border crossings. Hauliers are unhappy that their lorries have been unreasonably delayed at the border.

"The lorries, which were loaded with goods for Austria, went through the typical customs check, after which their documents were held and it was explained most politely that they were waiting for an order from Sofia so that they could proceed. Customs officers told us that this is related to certain actions that Austria has regarding Schengen, towards Bulgaria," said Dimitar Dimitrov, Executive Director of the Chamber of Bulgarian Road Hauliers.

The Customs Agency explained that enhanced checks of goods and cargo from and to Austria are being carried out as part of the commitments made to Vienna for Bulgaria's accession to Schengen. Hauliers complain that any delays in deliveries result in penalties for them and hope for full membership in Schengen – by land as well.

"We want a precise and specific date on which Bulgaria will become a full member, although there is no concept of half-membership. We are in a situation in which last year, there were over 200 million euros plus direct losses for hauliers from waiting at the Bulgarian-Romanian border. If the Bulgarian government has the desire and will for reciprocal measures against Austria, a wonderful measure would be to ease border controls between Bulgaria and Romania," said Dimitar Dimitrov, Executive Director of the Chamber of Bulgarian Road Hauliers.

Today there were no queues at Danube Bridge 2. At the moment the checks take between 2 and 3 hours. The Customs Agency pointed out that controls at the land borders will remain in place until Bulgaria fully joins the Schengen area.