ZAGREB, July 17, 2019 – Slovenian and Croatian hauliers should be able to use every border crossing, officials of the two countries’ chambers of trades and crafts have concluded at a meeting, the Croatian chamber said on Wednesday.
They met in Ljubljana to discuss the issue of traffic flow across border crossings, concluding that the closure of some crossings has caused damage to both countries’ hauliers and that it is also a political issue because of which both economies suffer.
The president of the Croatian chamber, Dragutin Ranogajec, and his Slovenian counterpart Branko Meh were agreed that this problem demanded an urgent solution by the two governments.
The interests of Slovenian and Croatian hauliers are the same, so transport and supply between the two economies must be undisturbed, the officials concluded.
On June 1, the Slovenian Infrastructure Ministry introduced on 17 local border crossings with Croatia a restriction barring the transit of trucks exceeding 7.5 tonnes in weight. Consequently, Croatian hauliers must use international crossings, which has resulted in higher expenses and longer transport.
Slovenia says the restriction is aimed at increasing the safety and quality of life of the local population, so it shifted cargo transport from state roads to motorways. Croatian hauliers, however, believe the restriction is a response to Croatia’s closure of the Mursko Središće border crossing for the transit of trucks exceeding 7.5 tonnes.
Croatian and Slovenian transport ministers met in June to discuss the restriction.
More news about relations between Croatia and Slovenia can be found in the Politics section.
