News

On 19 September in Druskininkai, Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Asta Skaisgirytė Liauškienė chaired the circuit meeting of the interdepartmental working group on the optimization of procedures for issuing visas for tourists, which focused on issues of the Lithuanian-Belarusian border permeability and generalized the 2011 summer tourist season.

According to A.Skaisgirytė Liauškienė, it is predicted that in the future Belarusians will travel to Lithuania more often. Therefore, purposeful and intensive work to facilitate the border crossing procedures is necessary in order to ensure well-organized inbound tourism from the neighboring country.

At the meeting, representatives from the State Border Guard Service said that the Lithuanian-Belarusian border permeability at the international border crossing points was in line with the factual figures or even exceed them. Therefore, it can be concluded that the available personnel and infrastructure capacities are sufficient. However, according to the participants of the meeting, problems occur due to external factors, such as diverting the third-country transport to a certain border check point.

Director of the Directorate of Border Crossing Infrastructure under the Ministry of Transport and Communications Arnoldas Tvaranavičius presented the future framework for regulating cues at the border. Technical terms for the implementation of the framework are currently being prepared. A.Tvaranavičius expects that the necessary software, allowing drivers of vehicles to pre-register their planed border crossing time, will be acquired by the New Year.

Mayor of Druskininkai Ričardas Malinauskas acquainted the participants of the meeting with Druskininkai resort. He presented statistical figures when speaking about increasing flows of foreign tourists in the city and reviewed the planned new projects.

The meeting predicted increasing flows of tourists from Ukraine, Russia (especially Saint Petersburg) and China. Heads of tourism associations were pleased that visa issuance ran smoother in Moscow and Saint Petersburg this summer.

The interdepartmental working group visited Raigardas border crossing point, spoke with the administration and discussed cross-border traffic flows and visits of incoming tourists. Members of the working group were informed that there had been a significant fall in the number of passengers since July. The allowed amount of fuel brought from Belarus was reduced in July.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Economy, Lithuanian State Department of Tourism under the Ministry of Economy, State Border Guard Service, Migration Department and Customs Department, Directorate of Border Crossing Infrastructure under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Lithuanian Tourism Association, Lithuanian Association of Hotels and Restaurants, Hotel chain Amberton and Lithuanian resorts.

The interdepartmental working group was formed in compliance with the order of the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis. Established on 21 October 2010, the working group together with its partners from the Government and business aims to optimize procedures of issuing visas for tourists.