Dozens of Finnish trucks stopped in Russia - forged documents suspected

print this

A large number of Finnish trucks have been stopped by the Russian militia or police, and they are being held in Russia on suspicion of using forged documents in border crossings.
      According to Juhani Mäkäräinen, the Russian representative of the Finnish transport entrepreneurs' union, the Finnish Transport and Logistics (SKAL), the number of stopped trucks is around 70.
      Mäkäräinen notes further that the accurate number is not known, because some trucks have already returned from Russia, while some others have been stuck in the country already for a month.
     
The Russian police have even issued warrants for the arrest of some trucks on the grounds of their being suspected of having been involved in a web of smuggling that was exposed last year, noted Veikko Kuronen who is in charge of TIR transports at SKAL.
      "The Russian Customs claimed that 18 Finnish truck operators had carried out 659 TIR transports to Russia, but the trucks never appeared in a customs inspection", Kuronen states. TIR trucks are not inspected at the border but at their final destinations.
      However, Kuronen believes that the Finnish transport operators were unaware of any foul play, including forged documents related to the alleged customs offence cases.
      According to Kuronen, the Russian police have a list of the licence numbers of those cars and trailers that will be stopped once they have been located.
      "Some cars have been stopped along roads in the middle of forests", he says. The drivers cannot leave the place as the trucks cannot be left unguarded.
     
Mäkäräinen argues that the stoppage of these trucks is illegal, because the court proceedings related to the smuggling case have not been completed as yet. According to Russian law, confiscations are not permitted until there is a court decision.
      "The Russian police claim that a truck is circumstantial evidence in the case", notes Mäkäräinen.
     
The police have not told the truck drivers themselves on what grounds their vehicles have been stopped, according to Kuronen.
      Juhani Mäkäräinen assumes that even the Russian militia would like to get rid of the vehicles. He believes that the warrants cannot be withdrawn, because the police have not found the original documents on which the warrants are based. As a result of his negotiations with the Russian authorities, one truck has been allowed to leave Moscow.
     
Pekka Sailio, the St. Petersburg liaison of Finland's National Bureau of Investigation, reports that the representatives of the Finnish Customs and police in Russia, together with officials at the Embassy of Finland in Moscow, have made inquiries about the reasons for the confiscation of the Finnish trucks. They expect to receive a reply from the Russian authorities in the near future.
      Sailio points out, however, that the Finnish authorities have no right to question the legitimacy of the Russian authorities' actions in their own country.
      "All we can do is to ask whether or not the measures taken are legal. We cannot intervene in their actions in any other way", Sainio concludes.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Russian Customs cancel escorting order for Finnish trucks (5.10.2004)
  Trucks of nearly 20 Finnish hauliers ordered to be escorted to destinations in Russia (30.9.2004)

Helsingin Sanomat