EU opens renovated Moldova-Ukraine border crossing point

The Commission supported works on this border crossing point as part of the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes initiative, aiming to enable smoother traffic flow through the border as well as better connectivity between Ukraine, Moldova and Romania, it said in a statement on Thursday.

"Since the establishment of the Solidarity Lanes in May 2022, the Danube corridor has been an excellent example of the close cooperation between Ukraine, Moldova and Romania – the largest share of goods exiting and entering Ukraine have used this corridor for the past two years, with logistics costs comparable to the Black Sea route. With our support, today's inauguration of the enhanced border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova in Reni will further reduce the waiting times at the border, and thus increase the attractiveness of this route," said Adina Valean, commissioner for transport.

The European Union (EU) has also allotted up to 11 million euros ($11.96 million) for further renovation and potential expansion of the border crossing point as well as for the development of other priority border infrastructure.

The inauguration of the renewed border crossing point comes in the context of talks between the EU, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, and the US to increase the efficiency of the Danube corridor for current and future needs.

The EU's Solidarity Lanes initiative has allowed Ukraine to export more than 136 million tonnes of goods, generating around 50 billion euro of income for its economy, and to import over 52 million tonnes of needed goods.

($=0.9199 euro)