Photo: A new border crossing to Romania has opened in Transcarpathia

A new road border crossing point on the Ukrainian-Romanian border, “Bila Tserkva—Sighetu Marmatiei,” has begun operations in Transcarpathia. It is the first new road crossing between Ukraine and Romania in Transcarpathia in nearly 20 years.

According to the minister, the new crossing will be the third road border crossing between Transcarpathia and Romania. Its opening should help redistribute traffic flows and reduce the burden on existing crossings.

“For the region, this is the third road border crossing with Romania. It provides an additional route for people and businesses, as well as an opportunity to redistribute traffic flows and reduce the burden on existing crossings,” noted Mykola Kalashnyk.

The opening of the crossing is of particular importance to residents of the Solotvyno community, where Bila Tserkva is located.

The community is home to a large ethnic Romanian population, and many local families have relatives on the other side of the Ukrainian-Romanian border. The new border crossing is expected to make trips to visit loved ones more convenient and faster.

In the initial phase, the new crossing will be able to process up to 400 passenger cars per day.

To launch the border crossing, an access road was built on the Ukrainian side, and modular infrastructure for border and customs control was installed.

Meanwhile, Romanian partners have built their own border crossing facility and a new bridge across the Tisa River.

Traffic is currently open on the temporary infrastructure so that people can use the new crossing right away. This is the first phase of the project.

The next stage involves the construction of a full-scale complex for handling freight and passenger traffic.

Once all planned work is completed, the “Bila Tserkva–Sighetu Marmatiei” border crossing will be able to process up to 360 trucks and 50 buses per day.

Thus, the new crossing is set to become an important additional route between Ukraine and Romania, facilitate border crossings for local residents and businesses, and partially relieve congestion at other border crossing points in Zakarpattia.

Mykola Kalashnyk, Ukraine’s Minister of Recovery, Infrastructure, and Transport, announced the launch of the new border crossing on Telegram.

Earlier, Poland placed six border crossing points on the border with Ukraine on high alert. Military personnel were deployed to the border crossing points, and additional security measures were implemented to ensure a faster evacuation of people in the event of a threat.

The “Palanka–Mayaki–Udobne” border crossing on the Ukrainian-Moldovan border has resumed operations. Citizens and vehicles are being processed as usual.