On Thursday, October 8, a new border crossing, “Bila Tserkva–Sighetu Marmatiei,” began operations on the border between Ukraine and Romania, according to Mykola Kalashnyk, Ukraine’s Minister of Recovery, Infrastructure, and Transport.
“This is the first new road crossing between our countries in Zakarpattia in nearly 20 years,” Kalashnik emphasized in a post on his Telegram channel.
He noted that this is the region’s third road border crossing with Romania. An additional route for people and businesses, an opportunity to redistribute traffic flows and reduce the burden on existing crossings.
“It is of particular importance for residents of the Solotvyno community, where Bila Tserkva is located. A large community of ethnic Romanians lives here, and many families have relatives on the other side of the border. The new crossing will make these trips—to parents, children, and loved ones—easier. It is precisely these daily needs of people that should determine how we develop our infrastructure,” the minister noted.
Currently, the border crossing can process up to 400 passenger cars per day. To launch it, an access road was built on the Ukrainian side, and modular infrastructure for border and customs control was installed. Romanian partners built the border crossing and a new bridge over the Tisa River.
“We’re opening traffic on the temporary infrastructure so that people can use the crossing right now. This is the first phase of the project. Next, we plan to build a full-scale complex for processing trucks and buses. Once the work is completed, it will be able to process up to 360 trucks and 50 buses per day,” Kalashnik concluded.
