The bottleneck effect of road transportation at the Finnish - Russian border stations : A prospective “One-stop” border crossing model

Abstract: The flow of goods to Russia has grown faster than the bottleneck can handle and the infrastructure on Finnish eastern borders has been stretched to the limit. The authors choose this topic according to their educational background and the direct and indirect future opportunities that can rise up for everybody by a possible solution. Purpose The main purpose of this thesis was to identify the main reasons for the inefficient border crossing process at the border station in Vaalimaa. The authors will analyse the current situation at the border crossing station in Vaalimaa from two different perspectives: Finnish Customs and Logistics Companies. The authors will propose a possible solution by improving the border crossing process Methodology Qualitative research method is used in order to get the most dependable information for the reasons of the problems. The aim was to get information about the current situation at the border crossing point in Vaalimaa rather than quantitative information. The qualitative research method will allow authors to go deeper inside the topic by interviewing the logistics companies, who are using the route via Finland to Russia and, as well as, Finnish customs and border guards, who are working in Vaalimaa. After the data collection, the authors will propose their own solution for the crossing border problems and they will conclude the research by measuring its validity and reliability. Conclusion The authors will present the main reasons for the inefficient border crossing process, which are bureaucracy, legislation issues, criminality level and poor IT-systems. In order to solve the problem and manage all the possible changes, Russia and EU should have a closely cooperation in any level. The authors after analysing the current situation in Vaalimaa, created the “One-stop” model as an improvement of the whole border crossing process.