During the meeting, the current border crossing rules for volunteers, as well as the functioning of the “Path” system, were discussed with the participants.
Today, May 11, there was a meeting of representatives of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, the State Border Service of Ukraine together with members of volunteer organizations of the Lviv Region. The event was organized in order to improve cooperation, discuss the procedure for interaction, as well as agree on ways to solve problematic issues, in particular, regarding crossing the state border.
The event was attended by Oleksandr Kulepin, Deputy Head of the Lviv Regional Office for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalization (CDTO) and Iryna Shurpyak, Head of the Lviv Regional Office.
The DPSU was represented by the first deputy head of the Main Development Program Support Center (Reform Office) of the State Border Service of Ukraine Volodymyr Prykhorchuk and deputy chief of staff, head of the department of border control organization of the Western Regional Department of the State Border Service Ihor Matviychuk.
Ihor Matviychuk spoke about the current situation on the western border of Ukraine, namely in the areas of Chernivtsi, Zakarpattia, Volyn and Lviv regions.
“A large number of people want to cross the border as volunteers or truck drivers, even though they are not. Every day, approximately 3,000 men aged 18 to 60 cross the section of the western border using the “Path” system. Among these people, an average of 200-300 people try to cross the border under the guise of volunteers. Therefore, the burden of selecting such persons falls on the personnel of the Border Service to prevent them from entering the border. “Every day, we are forced to turn away 40 to 60 people along the entire perimeter of the western border who could not confirm their purpose of leaving,” said Ihor Matviychuk.
Iryna Shurpyak informed about the current innovations from the administration for obtaining permission to travel abroad.
“The latest innovation from our side is the implementation from April 1 of mandatory signing of documents with an electronic digital signature when submitting applications. The introduction of EDS has allowed us to issue a 90-day exit permit for organizations with a good history of previous border crossings. Half of the organizations that we review daily receive such permission for a period of 90 days. This reduces the bureaucratic burden and frequency of submission of documents for those who apply to us. Also, approximately once a month, we conduct an individual analysis of the cases of organizations and funds, provide answers to questions, and consult. The next such meeting will be held next week,” said Iryna Shurpyak.
Ihor Matviychuk informed the list of documents and other prerequisites for successfully crossing the border with a humanitarian goal.
“First of all, a volunteer is a person with a history of previous border crossings, acts of receipt and transfer of humanitarian aid, customs declarations of previous aid imports, current membership in public organizations or charitable foundations. One of the mandatory rules is the presence of personal data in the information system of Ukrtransbezpeka, the presence of documents certifying the person and the presence of a decision of the administration or the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine confirming the right to cross the border,” said Ihor Matviychuk.
He also gave advice to volunteers who regularly cross the border, in case there are problems when crossing at the checkpoint itself.
“When crossing the border, the human factor cannot be ruled out, because the inspector may suspect an unjustified departure. First of all, you can call the senior shift at the checkpoint, to whom you can explain the problem that has arisen and he can advise what to do in this or that case. There is also a hotline of the State Border Service’s trust service where anyone can call and describe their problem. The most important thing: take with you as complete a list of documents as possible so that your purpose of going abroad is justified and clear,” Ihor Matviychuk summarized.
Also, during the meeting, representatives of the State Border Service of Ukraine awarded volunteer organizations with thanks and commemorative awards for their assistance in matters of material support. In particular, the honorary consul of the Republic of Lithuania in the city of Ternopil Yaroslav Vyzniak, representatives of the charity organization “Movement to the Future Aid Fund for Ukraine”, the charity fund “Sombra Ukraine” and the Lviv IT Cluster, private enterprises “Terra-Pak” and “Zachid-beton- building”, public associations “Strong Life” and “Community in Action”, limited liability company “Parkbudtech” and private joint-stock company “Prykarpattiaoblenergo”.