At the initiative of the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Peev, a meeting was held with representatives of road freight carriers to discuss the possibilities for reducing the load and improving the organization of traffic at the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint. The conversation was attended by Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Hristina Velinova, Director of the Directorate General of Border Police, Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov, Director of the Customs Agency Nikolay Shushkov and Executive Director of the Automobile Administration Agency Boyko Ranovski.
„Improving the organization of traffic through the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint requires constant coordination between all responsible institutions and the transport industry. Our goal is to increase the throughput of the checkpoint, while maintaining the high level of border and customs control,“ said Minister Georgi Peev.
During the meeting, it was noted that the Directorate General of the “Border Police“ and the “Customs“ Agency have already taken steps to optimize the work in order to improve the throughput of the border checkpoint, so that about 1,000 trucks can be processed per day. It was emphasized that the “Kapitan Andreevo“ border checkpoint is part of the external Schengen border and there will be no compromise on the quality of border and customs checks.
The participants in the meeting also discussed the possibilities for freight traffic to be diverted from the “Maritsa“ highway to wait in safe places where some of the necessary checks can be carried out before the trucks are directed to the border crossing in an organized manner.
As a medium-term and long-term measure to increase capacity, the currently ongoing reconstruction of the “Kapitan Andreevo” border crossing was presented, which is expected to be completed in the middle of next year. After its completion, the throughput capacity for trucks will increase by over 25%, which will allow the processing of more than 1.25 million trucks per year, compared to about 1 million at present. The processing cabins will be increased by introducing double and reversible cabins, allowing for flexible redirection of the entry and exit lanes according to the load.
In parallel, work is underway to build the new “Kapitan Andreevo – Kapıkule Sever” border crossing in the immediate vicinity of the existing crossing. The site is expected to be completed within two years and will fully service heavy-duty traffic.
A design solution has also been developed for the Lesovo border checkpoint, which envisages a significant increase in capacity by doubling the entry and exit routes. The capacity envisaged in the investment project is to handle up to 2,000 trucks per day.