They ask the Belarusian customs officer how much you need. What is going on now on the Belarusian-Russian border? We checked it personally
According to international agreements cars from Lithuania have the right to transport goods within the Customs Union, but Belarusian customs officers, citing the internal Customs Code, prohibit them from doing this.
The Labor Code states that foreign companies are prohibited from carrying out transportation within Customs Union. It would be nice if they just didn’t allow trucks into their territory, otherwise they let them through at the border and then confiscate the vehicles along with the cargo. For example, the Lithuanian company Kniupsius cannot in any way sue two confiscated car transporters that had all the necessary accompanying documents. The Lithuanians submitted material to the court to appeal the customs decision on confiscation, but the court rejected them. The same fate befell the car transporter. transport company Gurkis ir Ko, IG Trans companies, etc. Nowadays there are no longer queues of trucks on the border of Lithuania and Belarus, as before. After, according to the new standards Customs Code In Belarus, transit was equated to domestic transportation and cars began to be confiscated; no one wants to risk their cars and cargo.
Happens not only with trucks and not only with cars from Lithuania. There are already many known cases of confiscation of personal vehicles of Russians. Cars are seized without sufficient grounds, later they find a false reason and confiscate them through the court. For example, in winter, one Russian citizen, who was driving a Russian car from Europe (home to Russia) across the Belarusian border, had his car detained because their computer did not show through which border he entered Europe. The court was presented with a backdated car seizure report with a forged signature of the owner. The car was sent for examination, in the documents, indicating the reason..., attention: “The interior is too clean and there are not enough items in the glove compartment”!!! There was already one court hearing, at which it was decided to hold another one, at which they were obliged to customs authorities provide the officer who detained the vehicle. Thus, the person has been without a car for six months and it is still unknown how the trial will end. Based on the experience of other cases of car seizures, apparently, in order not to compromise the customs authorities, not one has yet been returned to the owner. After trucks with electronics produced in the Kaliningrad region were seized, and the electronics were confiscated and sold on their territory, while Kaliningrad enterprises were also fined, Russian carriers on the advice of the Kaliningrad customs, they also choose routes that bypass Belarus. So not only cars from Lithuania and EU countries suffer from Belarusian lawlessness.
Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Poland and Latvia sent an appeal to the Ministry of Transport of Belarus, asking for assistance in regulating legislation. If the authorities do not solve the problem, then cars from Lithuania and other EU countries will also travel around Belarus through other countries. Most likely, all traffic flow will pass only through Russia.
The guy bought a cool BMW. I decided to try on an empty highway to see what speed it could accelerate to. It's going, it's a blast! Suddenly he sees a police car behind him. Well, he thinks BMW won’t catch up. And on gases! But there is a crossing ahead, the barrier is closed, the train is coming. The policeman catches up with him and says:
- Listen, today is Friday, the end of the day, I’m tired of all the writing... In general, if you come up with an excuse that I haven’t heard yet, then I’ll let you go.
“You see,” the man says, “my wife ran away with a policeman a week ago.” I thought it was he who wanted to bring her back...
They ask the Belarusian customs officer:
He thought and considered and said:
- Well, six months.
They ask the Ukrainian customs officer:
- How long do you need to buy a BMW?
He thought and considered and said:
- Well, about four months.
They ask the Russian customs officer:
- How long do you need to buy a BMW?
He thought and considered and said:
- Well, about five or six years.
- Why did it take so long?
- The plant is too big...
The condom production company decided to give its products names similar to car brands and launched a batch for sale.
A gay couple comes into SEXSHOP, and one says to the other:
- Honey, let's buy MERSEDES.
- No, dear, it's too big.
- Well then, let's buy a BMW.
- No, he's too small.
Here a tired saleswoman intervenes in the conversation:
- Damn, guys, buy yourself a JEEP, you're going to drive through shit anyway.
There is a cannon on the monument, and three young guys with girls are walking nearby.
Guys show off to girls.
1st: – I recently bought myself a new BMW!
2nd: – And last week my parents gave me an apartment!
3rd: - And if you put me next to this gun, you won’t see any difference!!!
A Georgian says to his freshman son: Son, if you graduate from college with honors, I’ll give you a white Mercedes, if you graduate without grades, I’ll buy a black BMW, you’ll have a diploma with grades, I’ll buy you a silver Audi, but if you fail to graduate, you’ll get a red Zhiguli and you’ll be What an asshole to ride them all your life.
WHEN will life be good in Rus'? When a German will buy an Opel of the latest model, then save up, sell it and buy a BMW of the penultimate model, then work a little more, sell the Boomer and buy a USED VOLGA.
What kind of scolding do you think Yushchenko gave his son because of a loud conflict with a journalist?
- I bought him a BMW M6 and said: “Here, drive it!” »
Buy a license plate with the numbers “777″, “666″ or “555″ at the traffic police for $70,000, and you will receive a BMW, Mercedec or Lexus car for FREE!
Two new Russians meet. One says to the other:
- I bought a new model of Mercedes – it’s called BMW.
Everyone can buy a BMW.
The only question is what mileage the car will have.
Announcement: I will buy a BMW X5 SUV for 50,000 USD. e.
* 1 cu. e. = 1 rub. RF
Belarusian Nika Koshar was returning to Minsk from Peru with a transfer in Vilnius. Lithuanian customs officers suspected the girl of drug smuggling and conducted an inspection. But they didn’t limit themselves to a simple examination, but took her to the hospital and forced her to do an endoscopy of the stomach. The girl told the story of such an unpleasant procedure on her page in Facebook.
The girl’s route looked like this: from Peru to Amsterdam, from there by plane to Vilnius, and then by train to Minsk. It was just before the last push that the rubber came out.
“Two people in civilian clothes and about five customs officers were waiting for me at the gangway. They took my passport, looked at each other and said, it’s her. They took me aside and said that we needed to find out something. They asked about some Raul or Paul, if he was flying with me. I don’t know anyone like that, so I answered them.
The girl was thoroughly examined, but nothing prohibited was found. True, they didn’t let me go. Instead, they took him to the clinic. They measured my blood pressure and x-rayed me, but also didn’t notice anything illegal. They advised not to ask unnecessary questions if she wanted to catch her train. The girl was not allowed to drink and was not allowed to go to the toilet.
- I say: doctor, you are a doctor, I want to go to the toilet and drink, I’m on my period, I feel bad. The doctor looked and replied that the police deal with people like me, not doctors.
After some time, Nika was taken for an endoscopy.
- The next doctor asked: “What are you complaining about?” I replied: “No matter. But all these people think that I carry drugs inside myself.” He asked: “Are you transporting?” I answered no. Then he said: “What if I find it? They told me to look, and I will look.” And so he inserted this tube into me. It's about a centimeter thick. He did everything very rudely and harshly. I was vomiting and it was hard to breathe. My heart was pounding and my hand was cramping.
During this inspection, nothing was found either. According to Nika, the doctor told her that she still had to undergo several unpleasant procedures.
Nika says that she was already shaking from hysterics and tears. One of the police officers called the authorities, the girl was taken to an MRI, was completely scanned again, and only after that was released with the words: “Sorry for the inconvenience, please come see us again.” The girl was not given any documents, they only gave her names and released her.
- To be honest, in a stressful situation, I didn’t realize that I should demand a consul. Confused, scared,- Nika told a comment to an Onliner.by correspondent . “They told me not to show off, otherwise they’ll put me in the monkey bar.”
Upon returning to Belarus, Nika contacted the Belarusian Foreign Ministry for hotline, outlined the situation and said that she would like to get a consultation. “They didn’t understand why I was contacting them, because the incident took place in Lithuania”. A few minutes later, a local police officer from the village of Machulishchi called the girl back. He was quite skeptical, but he came and recorded her statement. Now Nika is waiting for an answer.
Lithuanian lawyer Vladlen Grigoriev commented on this situation to Kommersant FM. According to him, law enforcement officers have the right to check information about drug smuggling: “It is important on what basis they had the right to do this and to what extent her rights were violated, whether she suffered morally, maybe she was inflicted some kind of physical pain. In this situation it would be on her part the best option report the incident to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and prepare a complaint accordingly, check the actions of officials.”
Added. Lithuanian comment
The Lithuanian side commented on the situation today. Public relations representative of the criminal service of the Lithuanian customs, Gediminas Kulikauskas, confirmed that the Belarusian woman was indeed checked on suspicion of drug smuggling.
“Reacting to information on social networks about the allegedly unlawful behavior of customs officers during the inspection of a Belarusian citizen, we inform you that on March 15, the said person was indeed checked at Vilnius airport on suspicion of drug smuggling. An investigation is currently underway into the circumstances and progress of the inspection, as well as whether during the inspection of the person there was a violation of the procedure established in such cases,” DELFI reports the words of a Lithuanian official.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus: it is important for us whether the rights of a Belarusian citizen were violated
The situation was commented on by the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. The department will send an official request regarding the situation with the inspection of a Belarusian citizen at Lithuanian customs, BELTA reports with reference to Andrei Shuplyak, Deputy Head of the Information and Digital Diplomacy Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Employees of the main consular department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs proactively contacted the citizen with the help of one of social networks to clarify the circumstances of what happened. Based on the information received, an official request will be prepared to the Lithuanian side with a request to study the circumstances of the case and inform about the results. It is important for us whether the rights of the Belarusian citizen were violated,”- he said.
To the extent of news, to the extent of memes and a lot of fun in our community in
Customs officers from a neighboring country seized the car from Ukrainian tourists returning from the Baltics, explaining that their declaration did not contain a stamp, which they themselves “forgot” to put the day before. As we found out, there are now dozens of such cases
During the May holidays, the Icelandic volcano raged again, airports were under threat of closure, and many of those who were already planning to spend a couple of days off abroad decided not to risk it and go on a trip by car. So father and son Stanislav and Ivan Osharov, together with Ivan’s girlfriend, went to Riga in their Nissan. We wanted to visit relatives and at the same time travel around the Baltic states. Who would have thought that the journey would end sadly - the family would be left without their beloved and very expensive car.
“The car will remain at the impound area, and you must leave the territory of Belarus within three hours”
We left Kyiv on May 1,” says Ivan Osharov. - We crossed the border calmly and crossed Belarus. We arrived in Latvia, stayed in Riga, visited Estonia and Lithuania, where we admired the castles. We set off on the way back. We arrived at the Belarusian border - there was a crazy queue at the checkpoint. There are one hundred or one hundred fifty cars. What to do? My girlfriend's Schengen visa expires in four hours! We found the nearest checkpoint on the map - Kotlovka - and quickly went there.
Fortunately, there were much fewer cars there, so we went through Lithuanian customs very quickly. There were several queues at the Belarusian checkpoint. One of the employees waved his hand at us to stand in the “green corridor” (where they usually check the documents of those who have nothing to declare. - Author).
We filled out the declaration and started running from window to window - at one we gave the registration certificate for the car, at another - our international passports, at the third - we paid a transport fee of 4 euros for driving on the roads of Belarus. The customs officer asked to open the trunk, made sure that everything was in order, gave us a pile of documents - passports, insurance, receipt and allowed us to enter.
We spent the night in Minsk, and the next day we arrived in Novaya Guta on the Ukrainian border. And this is where the fun began. We had already been stamped in our passports about crossing the Belarusian border, when suddenly the customs officer, by the way, the same one who checked us at the entrance to Belarus a week earlier, noticed that there was no stamp in our declaration. But this piece of paper, along with other documents, was given to us by his colleagues at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border! Why did the customs officers forget to put a stamp on it? And how do we, ordinary tourists, know what should be there? They checked us and let us in, so why should we double-check our documents after the customs officers? Looking ahead, I will say: the Belarusians also did not put a stamp or seal on the act of confiscation of our car. They gave me a piece of paper with signatures and said that this was enough.
But the Belarusian customs officer was adamant - there is no stamp, which means, in fact, there is no declaration. But there is no declaration, which means that we have violated Belarusian laws and according to these same laws our car is subject to detention.
We were shocked! After all, all our other documents are in perfect order - our passports have a stamp about crossing the border, there is a receipt for the paid transport fee for the transit of this particular vehicle across the territory of Belarus, car insurance (“green card”), and, in the end, video recording with Belarusian border checkpoint! We asked the customs officer: call Kotlovka, let them check the database and confirm that we entered Belarus yesterday. We are not smugglers! We are just tourists, and from a fraternal neighboring country. But the customs officer said that everything is not so simple and that the department located in Gomel will deal with our case. And since it’s the holidays, management employees will only appear at work in two days.
We suspected that they were extorting money from us and offered to pay a fine. The customs officer refused - they seem to be strict about this. Then we decided: okay, we’ll wait in the car for the results of the investigation. “No,” they explained to us, “the car will remain at the impound area, and you must leave the territory of Belarus within three hours.”
The customs officers drew up a seizure report, valuing our car at 12 thousand dollars. “Why is it so cheap? - we were surprised. “The car costs twice as much!” “These are the prices in Belarus,” was the answer.
Then they demanded our keys and registration certificate: they said, if you don’t hand them over voluntarily, we will call a patrol who will take them away by force. It was some kind of nightmare! We tried to call the Ukrainian consulate, but none of the three phones they gave us at customs answered. There was nothing left to do but negotiate with the driver of the passing car, who took us to Kyiv.
At home, we still managed to contact the Ukrainian consulate in Belarus. They said that they could only help by giving me the telephone number of an international lawyer - perhaps he would be able to “recapture” the car. The services of this lawyer turned out to be very expensive, about 100 US dollars per day plus all additional costs- transport, hotel. But what can you do, the car is more expensive, and it seems that we can’t expect any help from our state.
An official from the Center for Assistance to Ukrainian Citizens Abroad refused to call our consul in Minsk
This week, my lawyer and I visited both the customs office in Novaya Guta and the customs office in Gomel,” continues Ivan. - As it turned out, there are dozens of such cases! Moreover, Belarusians often take away cars from the Baltic states. “Yesterday the Estonian consul visited me on a similar matter,” said the deputy head of customs. When I heard this, it was damn insulting: Estonia is a small country, but its consul was not lazy and came, because we are talking about his compatriots who were in trouble. Any state protects its citizens, but not Ukraine! Although there is even a Center for Assistance to Ukrainian Citizens Abroad under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyiv. We sent a fax there asking for help in solving our problem. Having contacted the Center by phone, we received the answer: “We will consider your application and respond within a month, as provided by law.” And in response to my request to contact our consul in Minsk, one of the officials replied that he would not do this, since he had a limit on international negotiations - THREE MINUTES a day!
In Gomel, we were told that the investigation is still ongoing. When finished, the materials will be sent to court. But, explained our lawyer (by the way, a Belarusian), there is not much to hope for: in 95 percent of cases, the court leaves the cars detained for violating customs rules to the state. Then the lawyer said that the budget of Belarus includes a considerable amount of income from confiscated goods. And government agencies are trying their best to fill the treasury.
We became convinced quite quickly that this was indeed the case. The request from the department in Gomel, as the lawyer established, having gone to the border with Lithuania, for some reason was sent to a completely different checkpoint, not to the one we were passing through. What is this - negligence? Or did someone really like our car and now everything is being done to confuse the trail, get the necessary court decision and give the Nissan to the new owner for next to nothing? If so, then, I’m afraid, the record of us crossing the border in a car may simply be erased from the computer. And then we are all criminals!
In addition to the car seizure protocol, Ivan Osharov showed another interesting document, which Belarusian customs officers handed to him as “friendly assistance”. The document contains addresses of local legal advice and a small explanation for tourists. It says: “The Institute of private lawyers in the Republic of Belarus has been liquidated, so there are only government defenders, but their assistance, as a rule, is ineffective and useless in criminal cases and disputes with government agencies" What is this? A subtle hint - that it is useless to challenge the actions of local officials?
For comment, “FACTS” turned to general director consulting company"Ukrvneshterminalcomplex" Alexandru Leleta.
This is complete chaos,” said Alexander Dmitrievich. - People have, albeit indirect, evidence of the import of a vehicle into Belarus - stamps in passports, a receipt for paying a toll. I assume that the car should also have been entered into the electronic customs database, as is done in Ukraine. By the way, in our country such a situation is difficult to imagine: every vehicle, which enters the territory of Ukraine, ends up in a centralized electronic database.
There are cases when a person enters Ukraine by car, but then must urgently return abroad, and therefore leaves the car and flies by plane. At the airport, he hands over an immigration card (we recommend making a copy of it, just in case), where there is a mark about the import of the car. But this does not mean that the imported car is now in Ukraine illegally. One way or another, even without an immigration card, no one will confiscate the car. Information about it is in the database, and customs officers can easily check it.