As of January 4 this year, the organization of traffic with the so-called virtual queue has been removed. This was stated by the Minister of the Interior Daniel Mitov, who was heard in parliament in connection with the virtual queue for heavy goods vehicles at the "Danube Bridge" border checkpoint near Ruse and the collected parking fees, BTA reports.
Minister Mitov informed that on January 8, 9 and 13, between 4:30 and 10:00 p.m. columns of trucks were formed, waiting for their turn to pass. Subsequently, traffic normalized. At the moment, the situation at the border checkpoint – "Danube Bridge" - Ruse is calm, he added.
Minister Mitov explained that in the border zone of the Bulgarian-Romanian border and the Bulgarian-Greek border, border police carry out control of vehicles and citizens using the method of random risk analysis and previously acquired information.
According to him, after the abolition of border checks from January 1 this year, the throughput of the "Danube Bridge" - Ruse border checkpoint is determined mainly by the capacity of the bridge facility, which is currently limited by the implementation of repair activities. The passage of vehicles is carried out in stages in both directions through the only free roadway, the minister pointed out.
He announced that in this regard, in the event of an increase in traffic and in certain cases, it is possible that trucks will have to wait on Bulgarian territory, outside the area of the "Danube Bridge" - Ruse border checkpoint.
The process of determining the waiting areas for trucks, as well as the organization of the manner and order in which this happens, is within the competence of the owners and administrators of the road infrastructure, added Minister Mitov and pointed out that by order of the mayor of the Ruse municipality of September 15, 2023, it was ordered to switch to border control at the – Danube Bridge border checkpoint, only trucks that have a number from the information system for tracking and reporting the flow, built by "Tir Parking Ruse" OOD - the so-called so-called virtual queue. The Ministry of Interior has no competence regarding the introduced system, said Daniel Mitov.
In the functioning of the parking lots and the organization of their activities, the obligations of the Ministry of Interior are related only to ensuring road traffic safety and, if necessary, stopping the flow of cars in the area of the city of Byala, he added.