Joint border controls with Ukraine, Giurgiulești - Reni and Cuciurgan - Pervomaisc will be renovated and equipped with new technologies. They will also have a joint database, allowing to combat crime more efficiently, but will also make import and export of goods easier. The project costs over 4.7 million euro, money offered by the European Union.

"The database will be integrated, making processing fasted" director Vitalie Vrabie said.

According to head of border guards, with new equipment, crimes will be stopped more efficiently.

"Our main aim is to ensure security when crossing the border, to eliminate the discomfort. Increasing the control points, ensuring that officers have proper equipment to work with. Online exchange of data and information" head of border guards, Fredolin Lecari declared.

Even vendors who will pass the customs will benefit.

"After the renovation, the crossing points will be like those from European Union, which will help us reduce the required time for goods clearance. Additionally, people will also have to wait less time to cross the border" chief of Odessa Customs Service, Alexandr Vlasov said.

The joint database will allow authorities from Moldova and Ukraine to coordinate and monitor more carefully the cross-border traffic.

"This IT system will allow authorities to gain information faster regarding who crosses the border, what vehicle they have. Only that it will be done according to the data protection regulation from each country" IOM Ukraine project coordinator, Laura Scorretti declared.

The program is implemented by International Organization for Migration. The project was launched at the beginning of November 2017 and will last to the end of March 2020.

According to International Organization for Migration, over 3 million people a year will be able to cross Ukraine-Moldova border more easily and faster.

“The flow through these two border crossing points reaches over 3 mln persons and 800,000 vehicles per year. The European Union supports Ukraine and Moldova in strengthening the security of their joint border. We are also working for simpler and faster border crossing for travelers and goods,” Ambassador Hugues Mingarelli, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, noted.

The Kuchurhan-Pervomaisc crossing point is located at the Transnistrian section of the boarder. It is the busiest crossing point of the Ukraine-Moldova border with about 1,800 vehicles and 7,300 persons crossing daily. Both Ukrainian and Moldovan border and customs agencies exercise control together on the Ukrainian side of the border.

The Reni-Giurgiulesti crossing point – Reni on the Ukrainian side and Giurgiulesti on the Moldovan side – is also among the busiest border crossing points. In particular, a high number of export grain trucks cross the border there due to the international trade in the area, where large Giurgiulesti International Free Port and terminals are located.

“Thanks to the excellent cooperation from the Ukrainian Government, IOM Ukraine’s Capacity Building in Migration Management portfolio is one of the largest and most successful in the world. Generously funded by the European Union, improvement of the jointly operated border crossing points will facilitate more secure, transparent, efficient and faster border control and customs procedures aligned with best European practices in Integrated Border Management (IBM),” Dr. Thomas Lothar Weiss, IOM Ukraine’s Chief of Mission, emphasized.