Russian merchandise transit via Belarus exceeded 90% of the total transit via the republic. Of the total number of consignments the Customs processed 59% were transported by road. Transportation by railroad accounted for 36% of all the processed consignments in H1 2012, with transportation by other means at 5%, including postal items.
The State Customs Committee of Belarus believes the growing transit volume has been fueled by rising transit attractiveness of Belarus and the measures taken to improve and optimize the operation of the customs service. The Belarusian customs service is busy equipping motorway checkpoints, building the border infrastructure, creating the most comfortable conditions for crossing the state border as part of the relevant government program. It is also important for increasing transit traffic along with performing the generally accepted fiscal and law-enforcement functions.
In the last five years the reconstruction of the motorway checkpoints Kotlovka and Benyakoni was completed at the Belarusian-Lithuanian border, the checkpoints Bruzgi and Berestovitsa on the Polish border were completed, Mokrany and Novaya Rudnya were completed on the Ukrainian border. Last year the checkpoint Domachevo was built along with a cargo terminal of the checkpoint Kozlovichi 2 at the Belarusian-Polish border, with the throughput capacity increased up to 28,000 vehicles. Planned work is now in progress to rebuild the checkpoints Grigorovshchina and Urbany. By 2015 the throughput capacity of all the motorway checkpoints in the Belarusian section of the Customs Union’s external border will reach 34,000 vehicles daily.
The creation and operation of the Customs Union of Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan as well as the relocation of the necessary control to the Belarusian section of the Customs Union customs border have determined higher requirements for the Belarusian customs service in discharging its functions in the interest of the Single Economic Space member states, said the source.
