How soon will Transcarpathia have another “window” on the Ukrainian-Romanian border?

Today, October 9, under the chairmanship of the Head of the Regional State Administration, Igor Bondarenko, a round table meeting was held with the participation of the heads of the RSA departments, customs and border guard services, local executive bodies of Ukraine and Romania, during which they discussed the opening of the international border crossing point "Bila Tserkva – Sighetu Marmatiei". The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to Ukraine Christian-Leon Turcanu and the Romanian consul in the town of Solotvyno Gracian Florin Pirvu were also present at the meeting. This was reported by the press service of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration.

It was noted that at the Ukrainian-Romanian section of the state border within Transcarpathian region there are checkpoints Dyakove – Halmeu for motor and railway transport, and Solotvyno – Sighetu Marmatiei for motor transport. However, the existing bridge over the Tisa river has significant limitations, since the maximum capacity of vehicles is 3.5 tons.
In 2013, agreements were reached with the prefecture of Maramureş County (Romania) on the construction of a reinforced concrete bridge over the Tisa river and the opening of a new international checkpoint at the Ukrainian-Romanian border “Bila Tserkva – Sighetu Marmatiei”.
Therefore, a number of important issues need to be addressed to implement this project. In particular, to approve the draft agreement between the Government of Romania and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the opening of a new crossing point for international traffic across the Ukrainian-Romanian state border between the settlements of Bila Tserkva and Sighetu Marmatiei. 

– The opening of the new checkpoint will significantly unburden the two existing crossing points, will allow to unite the tourist routes of the Carpathian region of Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine and Romania, which are becoming more and more popular every year, and will facilitate trade, economic, cultural and tourist ties of Ukraine and Romania, – the head of the RSA Igor Bondarenko said.
Given the importance of cross-border cooperation, further expanding and increasing the effectiveness of Ukrainian-Romanian trade, economic, cultural, humanitarian and tourist ties, the opening of a new checkpoint is promising. So, for his part, Mr. Ambassador promised to assist in drafting and approving the agreement by Romania to open another “window” on the Ukrainian-Romanian border as soon as possible.
The parties agreed to hold the next meeting in a month and discuss the next steps.