Tegeltija: I hope we will have both border crossings in Gradiška open by summer

(Patria) - The functioning of the temporary border crossing in Gradiška, which was opened on Tuesday by a decision of the Ministry of Security of BiH, was the topic of today's meeting between representatives of the Indirect Taxation Authority (UIO) BiH and businessmen, held at the local Customs Post. Among other things, the meeting concluded that the opening of this temporary crossing has averted economic collapse in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Traffic jams were recorded as early as Wednesday, and the director of the UIO, Zoran Tegeltija, admitted this.

"We have certain problems that will likely last for some time, and that is that every Thursday and Friday traffic jams occur when it comes to importing goods, when trucks enter BiH. And at this moment, this customs terminal is not ready to accept all trucks at once. By 12 o'clock, the process at the terminal for 140 trucks was completed. They have left, but 117 new trucks have entered. Now the customs terminal will operate until 10 PM, not until 8 PM as before," Tegeltija emphasized.

When it comes to passenger traffic, the authorities believe that this segment represents the better side of this crossing.

"We are able to accept all passengers with two lanes, but we think a third and fourth will be needed when the summer traffic jams begin," Tegeltija added.

He specified that this temporary facility is planned to be operational for three months, or until the necessary conditions are created for the reopening of the bridge in Gradiška at its old location.

"I hope that in the meantime an agreement will be reached on border crossings between BiH and Croatia, and that we will have both border crossings in Gradiška open by summer," Tegeltija stated.

He also noted that the import and export of all types of goods into Bosnia and Herzegovina are currently enabled at this location.

The opening of the new GP Gradiška-Nova Varoš occurred after the pedestrian part of the bridge at GP Gradiška collapsed, which caused traffic to stop. Although the Council of Ministers of BiH tried to pass a decision to open a new GP, ministers from the Bosniak people did not support the conclusions because the Management Board of the UIO did not make a decision on settlement between the entities, and then the Ministry of Security made a decision on temporary opening.

The UIO BiH states that this is not a new crossing, but that the old one has been moved, justifying the stamp from the previous GP which they use for the movement of people and goods.