The "Ivaylovgrad - Kyprinos" border crossing on the border with Greece is closed to traffic due to a protest by agricultural producers. The restriction was introduced after a previously coordinated protest action, which the Ivaylovgrad Municipality informed about on its official website, BTA reports.
At around 9:30 this morning, protesters blocked the road with heavy agricultural equipment. Their main demand is to allow trucks with a total permissible mass of over 3.5 tons to pass through the former border crossing.
This is the second protest on the topic in the last week.
The organizer of the demonstration, Hristo Parasarev, who cultivates about 800 acres of land with wheat, sunflowers, flax, vineyards and other crops, said that the current restriction seriously hinders the sale of agricultural products on the Greek market, especially in the midst of the harvest campaign.
According to him, currently exports to Greece are difficult due to the restrictions introduced under an agreement between the two countries in 2007, which the Road Infrastructure Agency cites as the basis for the current regime.
„Our main demand is for Ivaylovgrad to finally actually become part of the Schengen area. We insist that the prohibitory signs for trucks with a total permissible mass over 3.5 tons through the former Ivaylovgrad border crossing be removed – Kyprinos, so that we can freely sell our agricultural products in our neighboring country“, said Parasarev.
He explained that the Greek warehouses for purchasing produce are only about 10 minutes away, while transportation to warehouses in Bulgaria can take almost a whole day.
According to him, using smaller vehicles up to 3.5 tons is not economically profitable, since they can transport between 800 kilograms and 1.5 tons of produce.
“I would rather lose 2-3 cents per kilogram than lose 5-6 cents and travel all day to Lyubimets or Harmanli to sell my produce“, said the protest organizer.
Parasarev added that according to farmers, after Bulgaria's accession to Schengen, there is no longer any reason to maintain the movement restriction of heavier vehicles through the checkpoint. According to him, a procedure has been initiated to change the status of the border crossing, which would also allow the passage of trucks.
“We have exhausted all other options that the law offers“, he said and added that several petitions on the issue have been submitted over the past year, but to no avail.
The protest was also attended by farmer Georgi Chobanov, who cultivates about 2,000 acres of wheat. He pointed out that transportation costs represent a significant part of the total costs of producers, since due to the restrictions, the production has to be transported to warehouses in Harmanli or Lyubimets.
According to him, this extends the route by more than 60 kilometers and increases costs for farmers.
Chobanov added that concerns about possible damage to the road infrastructure by heavier vehicles are unfounded, since agricultural machinery is still moving in the area daily.
Meanwhile, the “Road Infrastructure“ Agency published information according to which during the operation of the “Ivaylovgrad - Kiprinos“ border crossing an agreement has been reached between Bulgaria and Greece to allow motor vehicles with certain parameters to pass through it - width up to 3 meters, payload up to 3.5 tons and buses with a capacity of up to 50 passengers.
Because of these restrictions, nearly 18 years ago, the relevant traffic signal for the movement of vehicles up to 3.5 tons was installed on the second-class road II-59 Ivaylovgrad - Slaveevo - border with Greece.
Passage through the border crossing will be limited until 22:00 today. The Ivaylovgrad Municipality called on citizens and carriers to adjust their routes in advance to the introduced restriction.
The organizers of the protest specified that passing vehicles will be allowed through periodically.