What happens at the Narva-Ivangorod border and what alternatives ArtSanTaxi offers for traveling to the Russian Federation
The New Year is coming soon, which means that many people want to travel to their relatives and friends in the Russian Federation. And most of them go through the Narva - Ivangorod border. Because of this there is a huge queue. Therefore, for many people today one of the most pressing questions is the following: “Who how much stood in line at the border, and how can you speed up the process”. There is nothing strange and surprising in the relevance of this question, because the situation at this checkpoint is almost extraordinary. And here is why.
What is happening at the border Narva - Ivangorod
The following happens at the border Narva - Ivangorod. When people arrive at the checkpoint at 7.00 (this is the time when it opens), they join the queue, which by this time is at least 300 people. New arrivals are not the first, and not even the hundredth. This is because the queue has been forming constantly for about a week now. People who arrive at the border in the morning can stand until it closes at 22.30 and still not pass the border.
To somehow solve this problem, people started making lists of everyone who was in line at 22.30. Usually such a list includes about 300 people. After the list is compiled, people go to local hotels or apartments, and in the morning they get back in line according to their number on the list. Those who just arrive at the border find themselves at the very end of the already formed queue. And they have to stand until the evening and sign up for the next day. That is, everything is repeated daily, and it is impossible to solve the situation in any other way, because there are so many people, the checkpoint cannot cope. In addition, there are frequent delays due to the fault of those who cross the border.
Why delays occur during border crossing
Most of the delays are due to the fact that many people are carrying prohibited goods. And at the border there is a very thorough customs control. If a violation is detected, the inspector is obliged to draw up an act and a protocol. And this process takes a very long time. And while the inspector draws up a report on one violator, all the others in the queue have to wait, because of which the number of people in the queue is constantly increasing, not decreasing.
What additional complications arise because of the queue
The situation at the border is gradually getting worse, as some people are there for several days and cannot stand the “heat of passions”.
Serious disputes are also beginning because of the numbers in the queue. The fact is that local residents, having seen the situation, immediately set up a kind of business. Its essence is that they stand in line and then sell places for a certain amount of euros. This amount is from 50 to 100 euros per person. According to unofficial data, there are always about a hundred such people in the queue, but there may be more. Such selling of places leads to the fact that new arrivals often end up at the beginning of the queue, while people who have been standing for several days themselves are at the end. This leads to serious conflicts. It often happens that those who bought a place for themselves are simply kicked out of the queue, returning to its end. At the same time, they can no longer return the money spent on buying a place, since all these purchase and sale operations are completely unofficial and are a simple agreement. Since there are many people who are engaged in such “business”, no one can influence them. They claim that they were holding a seat for a friend or brother, and continue to sell seats. So they make money, and the tired crowd often dumps all the negativity on those who buy seats.
The situation is aggravated by the fact that the air temperature in Narva is now -8 degrees, snow is falling. And next to the border there is only a hotel, a supermarket, a cafe and a paid toilet on Narva Square. And this does not save the situation at all, but on the contrary, only aggravates it, since there are too many people.
The situation with hotels and apartments is also deplorable. There are few places, and prices are now reaching critical values - up to 200 euros per night. People pay such amounts to sleep for a few hours and go back to the queue.
In this situation, most continue to stand, since they do not see alternative options. Flights on Turkish or Serbian airlines are very expensive. If you fly from Turkey, then a ticket for one in economy class costs about 400 thousand rubles. Serbian Airlines offers cheaper tickets. But their price is also significant. Namely 150 thousand rubles.
However, in fact, there is an alternative. With ArtSanTaxi, you can cross the border in just a couple of hours. To do this, you just need to choose another crossing - not Narva, but Koidula or Luhamaa.
What alternative does ArtSanTaxi offer in the current situation
Meanwhile, while everyone is trying to cross the border in Narva, our drivers take passengers by transfer to Koidula. This border operates around the clock, plus - there is no public transport with it. Accordingly, they do not go there by buses and trains. Due to all these factors, there are much fewer people at the Koidula - Kunichina Gora border.
Our transfers leave from Tallinn, since there is an airport there, many buses and trains arrive there. Accordingly, our passengers can come from all over Estonia and other countries, fly in by plane and be sure that comfortable, fast and safe transport awaits them. And although the distance between Tallinn and this border is 60 kilometers longer than between Tallinn and Narva, our passengers will not notice it. Because ArtSanTaxi drivers always drive carefully and quickly.
The road from Tallinn Airport to the border point takes only 3 hours.