The Finnish government wants a resolution to the continued backlogs of trucks on the with Russia. Lines of lorries waiting to cross into Russia have stretched up to 40 kilometres on the Finnish side. The government decided on Thursday that a solution would be sought in cooperation between Finnish and Russian government ministries.
The basis of the government’s move is a report by Minister of Transport and Communications Susanna Huovinen concerning a discussion she had last week in Lappeenranta with Russia’s minister of Transport Sergei Aristov and the European Commissioner for Transport Jaques Barrot.
A number of measures were decided on Thursday.
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen says that he will send a letter to Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov drawing attention to the transport problems.
As discussions between the ministries of transport of the two countries have not led to the desired solution, the government decided to include the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ministry of Finance in the talks.
It was seen as especially important to get the customs authorities of the two countries involved in the discussions. Tapani Erling, director-general of Finnish Customs, is scheduled to travel to Moscow next week for talks with Russian customs officials on what practical solutions with rapid effect could be found to ease the border traffic situation.
The issue is also to be examined on the European Union level. The Finnish government is pushing for the establishment of a joint EU-Russia logistics working group on goods transport, hoping that such a team might start its work by late October. The matter is also to be discussed at a meeting of the transport working group of the Finnish-Russian Economic Commission in December.
Finland hopes to expand the facilities of the Vaalimaa border crossing point. The government sees a great need for improvements in the queuing system for heavy goods transport. The government’s budget proposal includes funding for an extension of the border station.
