Development and renovation of the Vaalimaa border crossing
At the Vaalimaa border crossing point, the old parking area for lorries was renovated to meet the current needs. The X-ray scanning equipment was renewed and the staff's working conditions in the passenger traffic centre were improved by renewing the customer service points. The project, completed in June 2023, was part of the South-East Finland – Russia CBC programme.
Background to the project
The Vaalimaa border control station is the busiest border crossing point for passenger traffic between Finland and Russia. It is located in the village of Vaalimaa, in Virolahti municipality.
When opened in 1958, Vaalimaa-Torfyanovka was the first crossing point for road traffic between Finland and the Soviet Union.
On the Russian side, the border crossing point is called Torfyanovka (МАПП Торфяновка, MAPP Torfyanovka in Russian, or Torfyanovka international automobile checkpoint). In 2019, a total of 2,463,000 border crossings were recorded at the Vaalimaa border crossing point.
Project costs and funding
The South-East Finland – Russia CBC 2014–2020 is a cross-border cooperation programme aimed at promoting the attractiveness of the region. The programme is funded by the European Union and the Republic of Finland.
The ENI CBC (European Neighbourhood Instrument, Cross Border Cooperation) grant funding agreement relating to the development of the Vaalimaa border crossing point was signed between the Managing Authority of the South-East Finland – Russia CBC programme and FTIA on 1 May 2019.
The budget for the development project was EUR 5.60 million, of which the grant covered EUR 4.48 million. The FTIA's share of the project was EUR 1.28 million, for which we received a subsidy amounting to EUR 1.03 million.
Objectives of the project
In the development project for the Vaalimaa border crossing point, changes were made in the lane arrangements for road traffic in order to improve the flow of traffic. The development of control systems improved the working conditions of the border control staff. These arrangements increased slightly the capacity of the border crossing point, making it sufficient long into the future.
The partners in the project were the FTIA, the ELY Centre for South-East Finland, the Finnish Border Guard, Customs, Senate Properties and Fintraffic Oy.
Progress of project
The grant funding agreement between the Managing Authority of the South-East Finland - Russia CBC programme and FTIA was signed on 1 May 2019. The project was completed in June 2023.
The South-East Finland – Russia CBC 2014–2020 is a cross-border cooperation programme funded by the European Union and Finland.
