FCS Russia and the Russian Ministry of Transport are working to cut standard inspection time for freight vehicles at border crossings to ten minutes—a presidential instruction discussed at a meeting between FCS head Valery Pikalyov and Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin. Source: FCS Russia.
The meeting focused on upgrading checkpoint infrastructure and rolling out digital tools. The agencies have agreed a roadmap with state control bodies covering construction and organisational measures, as well as legislative work jointly with the Federation Council.
The transport minister said the ten-minute inspection standard should apply at five border crossings as early as 2026. To achieve this, an “intelligent checkpoint” model is being deployed—a single platform pooling data from all control agencies, electronic document flow, weight-and-dimension checks, inspection complexes and electronic queuing.
The pilot site is Tagirkent-Kazmalyar on the Azerbaijan border. Since June 2025 it has been testing an integrated border-crossing scenario: a unified clearance system, a truck e-queue and modern inspection facilities.
Valery Pikalyov said recent visits to Tagirkent-Kazmalyar, Novo-Filya and Verkhny Lars—key sites of the North Caucasus Customs Directorate—allowed on-the-spot proposals for management decisions. The aim is to meet the ten-minute target at five crossings in 2026 and at all 25 listed crossings by 2030.
The customs chief stressed that approved infrastructure standards, higher automation and a single information environment based on advance data are prerequisites. Participants also discussed development of adjacent territories to support faster growth in international trade flows.
