Road hauliers protest over delays at “Kapitan Andreevo” border crossing

Bulgarian and Turkish road hauliers on December 2 protested at "Kapitan Andreevo" checkpoint at the border between the two countries because of the delayed clearance of lorries and shipments.

The road hauliers are dissatisfied with the continued formation of kilometres long queues at the checkpoint, despite a meeting with line ministries in October, at which the issue was discussed. According to industry data, the border clearance wait times remain unchanged and lorries continue to wait for 2-3 days.

Hauliers insist on taking into account the increased traffic through the checkpoint, taking urgent measures and accelerated clearance of lorries and cargo.

Yordan Arabadzhiev, Executive Director of the Union of International Hauliers in Bulgaria: The protest is symbolic and aims to attract the attention of the institutions of the two countries - Bulgaria and Turkey, in order to speed up the border crossing procedure for heavy-freight lorries. At the moment the situation at entry into Bulgaria is quite difficult, waiting time is about 90-95 hours.

Vasil Indzhov, Deputy Director of the South Maritime Directorate of the Customs Agency: In 2015, an average of 1,139 lorries per day went through customs clearance. In 2019, they were 1,920 per day , ie by 50% more lorries went through customs clearance.