Field Office Kuchurgan

Kuchurgan (aka Strasbourg in 1808 -1944) has very little in common with its namesake in France. But for sure our Strasbourg is a ‘village at the crossroads’, and of course a village of a very famous crossing point. Kuchurhan Road BCP is a dynamic location demanding prompt and appropriate solutions for problems.

Due to the close distance to Odesa and Illichivsk ports, all the key border crossing points (BCPs) on the UA-MD border in the area of responsibility of Field Office Kuchurgan that can manage the intense cargo traffic are referred as ‘strategic’ and of vital importance to the economy of both countries. FOKU covers two BCPs in the Republic of Moldova (Tudora and Palanca), four road BCPs and one railway BCP in Ukraine (Starokozache, Udobne, Maiaky, Kuchurgan), as well as the inland CU Post in Bilhorod Dnistovskyi, Anti-smuggling Service and CU Guards operating in the whole AoR, and  Bilhorod Dnistovskyi BG Detachment and Stefan Voda BG Directorate. Each location has its challenging peculiarities, which makes the cooperation with the partner services more task-orientated and pre-determined.

For instance, at Starokozache-Tudora assistance is focused on bus and truck traffic, especially in summer time when the flow of vehicles increases dramatically. Maiaky-Udobne-Palanca has another intricate point – the transit road. EUBAM experts participated in court hearings related to the transit road case. The governments of both countries have come to a joint decision on the transit road and joint border control is to be performed at Palanca BCP in the nearest future, with our experts taking an active part in developing and improving the technological scheme patterns to avoid future law loopholes for perpetrators.

The inland CU Post in Bilhorod Dnistovskyi and Anti-smuggling Service and CU Guards have undergone great changes in the past month – unification of units, staff reduction, implementation of e-declaration. All these widen the range of the experts’ engagement, to evaluate and analyse how the orders and laws would work on the lower levels and how these changes would influence the daily performance of the customs officers.

The FOKU team actively supports our partners in the existing circumstances in combating corruption and meeting EU standards in our everyday work, helping to improve the system and inform public opinion on the state services – mutual respect is the most important step to mutual understanding.

The amount of spirits, meat, and cigarettes imported to Transnistria via this BCP is enormous, more than the population of the area could consume. Apart from the desk checks of the declarations, our experts are at times also engaged in identifying the vehicles together with our partners, as the number of imported used cars from the EU is quite immense.

Another important issue is the adherence to the joint declaration between UA and MD, and the checks together with the partner services of the empty trucks leaving Transnistria. And all this work is performed against the background of intense traffic – both vehicle and pedestrian.