Ukraine and Hungary agreed on opening a new border crossing for passenger vehicles at Velyka Palad-Nagyhodos and expand the Luzhanka-Berehshuran crossing to allow for empty vehicles weighing over 7.5 tons, the Infrastructure Ministry reported on April 8.
There are currently five road crossings between the two countries: Chop-Zakhon, Luzhanka-Berehshuran, Kosyno-Barabas, Dzvinkove-Lonya, and Vylok-Tisabech. Only the first one can pass trucks with a weight of over 7.5 tons. Around 220 trucks cross into Hungary through this checkpoint daily.
As Polish farmers and truckers have ensnared traffic at the Polish border in ongoing protests over the import of Ukrainian agricultural products and the EU's Green Deal, Ukraine has sought to increase the flow of exports through other routes.
The new changes to a Hungary-Ukraine agreement on the control of border traffic were signed by Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov and Hungary's Ambassador to Ukraine Antal Heizer, the ministry wrote in a press release.
"We continue consistent work on the development of the western border to strengthen export opportunities and ensure rapid crossing of the border by passenger transport," Kubrakov said after the signing.
Kyiv and Budapest are also considering building a new border checkpoint for cargo vehicles at Dyida-Beregdaroc and working on the introduction of joint customs and border control, according to Kubrakov.
"This will allow us to speed up control procedures and reduce the time for crossing the border," he added.
