Dozens of illegally parked and abandoned vehicles at Estonia’s southern border crossing with Russia have been removed by the Transport Administration.

The government agency started the work at the Koidula crossing in October. Since then, nearly 50 vehicles have been towed, and the situation has significantly improved.

Vehicle owners are not pleased.

Siim Jaksi, head of the Transport Administration’s supervision department, said: “Just imagine, you’re coming from the Russian side, you reach the parking area, and discover your car is gone. That fear and panic or uncertainty throws you off completely, and then you start trying to figure out where it might be. You turn to the police, to the Transport Administration. In the case of our contract partner, I think they have been met with some harsh words and sent off to all sorts of lovely places.”

More than 10 owners have already come to retrieve their cars from a storage site in the southern city of Võru. Jaksi said they have mostly been Russian-speaking individuals from Latvia, Finland, and Estonia.

Parked and abandoned vehicles at the Koidula border checkpoint. Source: Mirjam Mõttus/ERRParked and abandoned vehicles at the Koidula border checkpoint. Source: Mirjam Mõttus/ERR

There are still 10 unclaimed vehicles in the storage facility, and the agency has decided to sell eight of them at auction to recover towing and storage costs.

Overall, the action turned out to be cheaper than expected.

“Initially, we budgeted quite a large sum — €30,000 for this year — but to date, we have reduced that to €5,000. For next year, we’ve planned or budgeted €18,000 for this activity,” said Jaksi.

The appearance of the crossing point has also significantly improved.

“As a measure to limit parking on green areas, we have put up temporary warning tape. In the future, there are plans to install guardrails along parts of the state road so that people can’t park on the green space,” Jaksi said.

The Transport Administration does not plan to create additional parking spaces in Koidula, and said all border crossers who know they will be staying on the other side for a longer period are advised to use the adjacent paid parking lot.

Crossing points on the Estonian-Russian border. Source: Helen Wright/ERR/OSM

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