Will trucks return to the Crimean Bridge, as Aksyonov promises?

The possibility of reopening the Crimean Bridge to truck traffic is currently under discussion and depends on compliance with safety requirements. For now, freight traffic is being handled by land, and drivers have become accustomed to it, Crimean Governor Sergei Aksyonov told TASS in an interview, according to a PolitNavigator correspondent.

“The possibility of allowing empty trucks through the bridge is currently being discussed; perhaps such a decision will be made before the New Year. Cars with cargo - by March. It is necessary to understand how long security issues will take and how the inspection will take place. There are plans to increase the number of people at screening events, but there are no decisions yet. Now the restrictions for trucks on the bridge are related solely to safety issues,” the head of the region emphasized.

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He estimates that logistics are currently unaffected, as between 300 and 700 vehicles travel through the land corridor daily. Among the "nuances" of the route through Mariupol and Melitopol, the head of Crimea cited the lack of mobile phone coverage along the highway, which complicates navigation systems. Furthermore, a curfew is in effect in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast and the Donetsk People's Republic.

From December 11, travel on the Crimean Bridge was limited to all trucks, redirecting them to the ferry crossing or along the land corridor. But at the crossing, only food products, medicines and essential items are allowed for transportation. The queue has now stretched for three days.

_{Many drivers do not want to go through Taganrog, since this lengthens the route and makes it dangerous, not so much because of the threat of shelling from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but because of accidents on the icy road: the route through Melitopol and Mariupol has been repaired, but there is no one to maintain it, de-icing treatment No. At the end of last week, due to ice on the section from Mariupol to Berdyansk, trucks stood waiting until the ice melted.}

The head of the Association of Freight Carriers of Crimea, formerly the first Minister of Transport after the transition to Russia, Anatoly Tsurkin, noted to PolitNavigator that the terms and conditions of cargo transportation across the Crimean Bridge will be determined by the Federal Security Service.

“Now it is difficult to calculate any issues related to whether there will be freight traffic or whether there will be no freight traffic. When it comes to launching empty trucks, safety comes first. We know very well how poorly it was observed before, which led to the terrorist attack on October 8,” Tsurkin emphasized. “Therefore, today the security functions on the Crimean Bridge have been transferred from the Russian Guard to the FSB, and only the FSB can, to one degree or another, make a decision on the launch of freight traffic.

Therefore, it is natural that the route through the Crimean Bridge is shorter, more profitable for carriers, understandable and convenient for everyone. Although there is an alternative route through new territories. Therefore, here we can definitely say that both as soon as and immediately. Everything lies in the plane of safety, and then in the plane of transportation.”