Finland wants Russia to drop all border-crossing fees

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Finland is calling on Russia to stop levying all fees for crossing the with Finland. The demand includes both the illegal fees that had been charged by officials at the Svetogorsk crossing adjacent to Imatra, as well as legal ones.
      A team of officials of the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications will meet with Russian colleagues in Moscow in just over a month. Finland will put forward its demand at that meeting.
      The issue will also be discussed by the Finnish-Russian Economic Commission.
      "If we think about flexible crossing of the border, and the flow of traffic, then no fees of any kind should be levied by either side", emphasises Harri Cavén, director-general of the transport policy section of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
     
Only one fee levied by Russia at border crossings has a basis in legislation. This is a vehicle and registration fee of 100 roubles, or about three euros, for every vehicle that crosses the border.
      The fee is usually paid at a bank window at the Russian border station, and during the transaction, the vehicle in question blocks all traffic.
      All other fees charged by Russian border officials are illegal, unless a receipt, or bank form is given.
      Russian customs authorities have extended the requirement of vehicle and registration fees to buses and lorries as well, even though the practice violates the road transport treaty between the two countries.
     
"We have vehemently opposed the fee. Russia has promised to eliminate it, but practical actions have been slow", Cavén says.
      Last week he nevertheless received a letter in which Russia said that it would stop levying the fee on heavy vehicles.
      On the practical level, the charge has been discontinued at least on the Russian side of the Vaalimaa and Niirala crossing points. Those driving private cars have still had to pay the fee.
      "This is the right direction. However, we expect the fee to be discontinued for cars as well", Cavén emphasises.
     
The chairman of the Parliamentary Transport and Communications Committee, Markku Laukkanen (Centre), says that it is clear that the registration fees for cars must go.
      "It slows down the crossing of the border tremendously", Laukkanen says.
      He says that the discussion on the matter has been frustrating. Whenever Finnish officials have managed to persuade the Russians to drop one fee, another has come in its place. Laukkanen also wonders if Finnish officials have presented the issue with sufficient emphasis.
      "The holder of the EU Presidency should be able to discuss these matters with the voice of the EU. We need strong politics to remove the fees. Russia only seems to understand big letters in these matters."


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish haulage company: Svetogorsk customs stops levying illegal fees (25.10.2006)
  Finland to take up illegal truck fees with Russian authorities next month (24.10.2006)
  Illegal fees collected from hauliers at Russian border customs station (23.10.2006)

Helsingin Sanomat