Koidula border crossers welcomed by 'car scrapyard'

Abandoned cars and overused parking spaces have created environmental hazards, legal hurdles, and rising tensions among local authorities and those crossing the border at the southeastern Estonian Koidula checkpoint, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.
At the crossing, in Võru County, one of the first things travelers encounter is a scrapyard of old cars, a situation which has remained unresolved for some time.
This has led to significant issues; there is no free space for those who have crossed the border in a vehicle to park, for one thing.
Both the local Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) and local government are working to address the problem, but say they are still waiting for a solution from the Transport Administration (Transpordiamet).
Crossing the border – which at Koidula means the Estonia-Russia border – by car is in any case a time-consuming process because full inspections are mandatory for all, when crossing from Estonia into Russia.
This prompts many people to leave their cars on the Estonian side of the frontier, and cross the border on foot.
However, the official parking lot at the Koidula border crossing, which is managed by the Transport Administration, is often oversubscribed, and holds a large number of apparently abandoned cars.
Many of these vehicles have been there for years, and lack tires and license plates and other details which would make them roadworthy.

But the situation has become so dire that there is no clear solution for dealing with the abandoned vehicles, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.
In addition to the official parking lot, there is also a paid parking lot in the village of Koidula itself, but travelers have proved reluctant to pay the €10 per day to make use of it, and as a result, cars are being left wherever there is an apparent space — be it in the woods or along the roadside.
This has put additional strain on the PPA, since the parking is often illegal.
Peter Maran, head of the PPA's southeast border point, said: "Since August of last year, we have initiated 125 summary proceedings against individuals who parked illegally."
"We have removed about 10 vehicles due to the traffic hazards they caused. There have also been cases of vandalism against parked vehicles, and criminal reports get filed that our units have to handle," Maran went on.
The situation is also creating environmental concerns.
Raul Kudre, mayor of Setomaa municipality, said: "There is also a pollution problem, as these cars can leak oil, which the local government had to clean up last fall. We collected quite a large cartload of various trash and debris."

Kudre stressed that, however, his local government has limited capacity to deal with the issue and is relying on the state Transport Administration to address the abandoned cars that have slowly transformed into scrap.
Janar Taal, head of the administration's southern unit, acknowledged that some abandoned cars have been sitting in Koidula for as much as a decade.
However, until recently, there had been no legal way to remove the old vehicles; the high-profile car tax, introduced this year, may offer some solutions, however.
Taal said that "the new vehicle tax law provides new possibilities" for dealing with the problem.
"As a result of the vehicle tax law, the Waste Act, and other legislation was amended, so that if a vehicle has been de-registered, the landowner has the right to remove it to a waste management facility. We will start dealing with them and removing them from there. There's no other way; Otherwise, the parking lot will never get tidied up," Taal continued.
The passage of the new law now offers a clearer path forward for removing the abandoned vehicles, and the Transport Administration is expected to take action soon.
For the time being, the situation remains unresolved, with the overcrowded parking lots and illegal parking continuing to create complications for both authorities and the public alike.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Merili Nael
Source: 'Aktuaalne kaamera,' reporter Mirjam Mõttus.