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Wednesday,
August 1,
2007, #145 (1412) By Anna Kamushadze
By launching a number of reforms on August 1, the Ministry of Finance hopes to streamline customs procedures and renovate infrastructure at Georgian border checkpoints. The new laws will, among other changes, abolish excise stickers for goods. Companies will be able to fill out customs declarations without any actual contact with customs officers. And owners of goods going through customs will be able to pick and choose which checkpoint and customs warehouse they want to deal with. Foreigners visiting
the country this tourist season could also benefit from the changes.
Cars registered abroad will no longer need special registration licenses
to drive on Georgian roads; instead, driving visitors can slap on a
special sticker giving them 20 days of movement on Georgian territory. "There were some problems before at the Adlia terminal, but as you see now everything has been normalized and people work in a normal environment," he said, before warning checkpoint officials they may lose their license if they don't see through all required infrastructure improvements. "The first main job is to set up the fencing; we are also going to fix 20-25 cameras to monitor the checkpoint 24 hours a day," said the director of the Adlia terminal, Giorgi Samvelidze. He estimated that about GEL 100 000 is needed to carry out the work. "But this isn't a problem, as the terminal has enough income. And besides, the new Spanish owner gives investments if it's needed," he said. Modernization works on the checkpoint at Lagodekhi, on the Georgian-Azerbaijani border, are scheduled to wrap up this year. The reconstruction is financed by the US and international organizations to the tune of USD 775 000. The Finance Ministry's
reforms and privatization of checkpoints will, Aleksishvili said, serve
to both fight corruption and make the entire system more efficient.
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Customs overhaul
to bring down costs and corruption, Finance Ministry says
