Welcome to Crimea: Kerch crossing – kilometer-long queues and bribes
Kerch, May 01 (Navigator, Astra Yazyka) – The Kerch ferry crossing justified the worst forecasts in its readiness to become the main transport gateway of Crimea. The line of passenger cars at the Kavkaz port stretches for tens of kilometers and hours of waiting, and cargo trucks are turned onto the commercial ferry Conro Trader, where transportation prices are three times higher.
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Russians who decide to spend the May holidays in Crimea at the Caucasus-Kerch crossing will be faced with a multi-kilometer queue of cars and trucks. You have to stand in an open field for 12-15 hours without a hint of basic hygiene amenities and retail outlets. Attempts to relieve the flow using the Conro Trader ferry do not bring results - the prices for transporting Crimean millionaires Gennady and Sergei Beymov to TES-Terminal LLC are three times higher. Instead of 2-3 thousand UAH, transporting one truck to the Kerch sea fishing port, where TES-Terminal LLC rents one of the berths, costs 7-8 thousand UAH. Drivers of trucks carrying humanitarian food supplies refuse to pay exorbitant prices to businessmen for delivery to the Crimean coast.
The prices for crossings for passenger vehicles also raise criticism. If an individual ticket for an adult costs 40 UAH, then for a small car crossing you need to pay almost 300 UAH, and for a passenger bus it is already 1250 UAH. At the same time, the number of return trips has increased almost 4 times, and not a single ferry goes empty.
Let us remind you that every summer, during the peak holiday season, kilometer-long queues of cars lined up for the ferry crossing across the Kerch Strait connecting the port of Crimea and the port of Caucasus. To get to the neighboring shore, Russians who came in their cars to relax on the peninsula had to wait for days for the ferry. The situation was complicated by the fact that at the checkpoint there was a well-functioning corruption system coordinated with border guards and customs - enterprising young people offered drivers 3000 rubles ($100) to “speed up” the process of passing the queue.
However, with the elimination of checkpoints, queues did not disappear, nor did paid services to reduce waiting time.
Previously, the state-owned company “Kerch Ferry” was part of the management of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine. After the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation, the property of the crossing was nationalized, and management was transferred to the Ministry of Transport of the republic. The ministry is headed by State Council deputy Yuri Shevchenko, who was previously involved in agriculture in the Leninsky district.
Since April, the Ministry of Resorts of Crimea has launched a promotional campaign in the regions of the Russian Federation for recreation at the resorts of the peninsula. The ministry called transport accessibility the main problem, the solution to which was to increase the number of flights to Simferopol airport and Crimea-Caucasus ferry flights.
Additional sea passenger connections are planned with Anapa, Novorossiysk and Sochi. However, traffic still flows through Kerch.
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