NARVA, Estonia — Russian tourists returning home from the holidays must be prepared to spend long hours waiting at the Narva border checkpoint.

Inadequate vehicle capacity at the crossing creates a bottleneck which can be dangerous in freezing weather and bad road conditions. Long lines of up to 800 vehicles shows that little is being done to improve it.

According to Aimar Köss, chief of East Prefecture Border Guard Bureau, the line is not a problem only during the holidays, but year-round because of people crosssing to buy less expensive merchandise in Russia, especially petroleum.

Köss said that cooperation between the Estonian and Russian border authorities is not a culprit.

“We have talked to the Russian border guards and they have responded that the lines are not a question of activity of Russian boarder guard,” Köss told Baltic Reports. “The cooperation with the Russian border guards is functioning through daily activity and is effective.”

According to Köss, constructing a new bridge and creating a new infrastructure would be the best solution. Currently around 808 vehicles are in line waiting at the Narva border crossing checkpoint heading for Russia, and Köss warns it may take up to 27 hours for all the vehicles pass the border.

Valeri Kiviselg, chief of Eastern Border Guard Post told Postimees Thursday that if the wait time would depend only on the Estonian side then it would not take longer than one or two hours.

“Only five to ten percent of the overall waiting time is formed at our side,” Kiviselg told Postimees.

Minister of Economy Juhan Parts told the press that Estonia has already reduced the amounts of cigarettes and vodka that can be brought over the border, but that inspection of semi trucks should be eased.

“Not having a new Narva bridge should not be the issue about letting more vehicles across the border. When it comes to the trucks, then border posts have to trust each other, and this is also a question between the European Union and Russia,” Parts said.