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The Deputy Minister of Trade of Turkey Riza Tuna Turagay visited Plovdiv at the invitation of Pavel Tonev

On 25.11.2021 The Director General of the National Customs Agency met the Deputy Minister of Trade of the Republic of Turkey Riza Tuna Turagay in the town of Plovdiv. Main topics of the conversation, in which the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey H.E. Aylin Sekizkok also took part, were the Common Transit Convention and the cooperation in the area of the customs law-enforcement and information exchange, the modernization of the border crossing points of ‘Kapitan Andreеvo-Kapikule’ and of ‘Lessovo-Hamzabeyli.

During the meeting the Director General of the National Customs Agency pointed out, that only for the two months since their previous meeting the processed trucks have increased with 24 500, which equals to additionally processed 490 km of piling up at both points. For the period from 1st September to 31st October 2021 the processed trucks have increased with 615 for 24 hours compared to the same period of the last year. It was mentioned that on the eve of 13th before the 14th November 2021 for 24 hours were processed 3080 trucks, which is historically the biggest number of processed ones for 24 hours.

The traffic at Lessovo Hamzabeyli BCP has significantly increased too where for the ten months of this year compared to the same period of the last year, the increase is with 51.8%. In August, seven new lanes were put into operation there, which helps to accelerate the processing of the traffic.

In addition, Pavel Tonev underlined the importance of the bilateral meetings as an option for the fast and operational solution of the problems and thanked the Turkish side for the correct fulfilment of the commitments taken at their previous meeting in Istanbul. The cooperation in respect to the facilitation of the activity of the importers from both sides is especially valuable. A special emphasis remains also the cooperation in the fight against the illegal drug trafficking as well as the counteraction to the customs and excise offences. The good interaction in respect to the movement of excisable goods too was noted with satisfaction.

It is expected as soon as possible to sign a contract, the design and the issuance of a permission for construction works for the creation of the two lanes for refrigerator trucks at Kapitan Andreevo BCP.

The Deputy Minister of Trade of Turkey Riza Tuna Turagay confirmed the increase in the transportations between the two countries and pointed out as a main reason for this increase with 33% of the Turkish exports. For the Turksih side the most important market is the European Union with more than 40% share of the exports.

Thus, Kapikule-Kapitan Andreevo appears to be the most important border point for land transport. The Bulgarian and the Turkish customs officers work day and night and their contributions is extremely big, for which we thank them, Mr. Turagay stated.

Against the background of the increased volume of the transportations, an extremely important topic for both sides remain the security of the trade flow, as well as the counteraction to the traffic of illegal migrants and drug smuggling, also became clear during the meeting.

The work visit of the Turkish Deputy Minister of Economy, who is in charge of customs matters, was a continuation of the first bilateral meeting between the two managers in September in Istanbul.

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