Lines of trucks waiting to enter Russia have become longer

TALLINN – As a result of the war started by the Russian Federation in Ukraine and related sanctions against Russia and Belarus, the number of trucks passing via border crossing points on the Estonian-Russian border has increased significantly, leading to longer than usual queues.

The Estonian Tax and Customs Board and the Police and Border Guard Board are asking truck drivers to take into account the need to spend longer time on the border and to book a time slot in advance.

In the outbound direction from Estonia, waiting times for trucks are directly linked to the capacity of the Russian side, which means that the speed of border crossing depends on how many trucks Russia is able to accept per hour.

"Unfortunately, Russia's capacity is outright insufficient for the current numbers of trucks, and despite the smooth cooperation and professionalism of the Estonian border guard and customs, we are currently unable to meet customer expectations due to shortfalls in the organization of work by the Russian authorities," Eerik Heldna, head of the customs department at the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, said in a press release on Monday.