The passenger traffic at the Vama Siret border was down by a third after the change in law which restricted the products that can be introduced to the country back in February, according to Mediafax.

In the first six months of this year, 250,000 people exited the country and 238,000 entered via this border checkpoint to Ukraine, down 30 percent year-on-year. The new law allows only bringing two packs of cigarettes, a liter of alcohol above 22 degrees, 16 liters of beers, 10 liters of gasoline above the capacity of the gas tank, per person, once every week.

The restrictions limited the smuggling of such products from Ukraine, and re-selling them in Romania for higher prices. Passenger traffic goes up though this border checkpoint between June and August, when tourists from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus go to Greece, Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria on holiday.

editor@romania-insider.com