Kiev Hosts International Conference on PRINEX System
The international conference has become a significant final event within the framework of the project “PRINEX”.
The event took place on 14th of December 2015 and became a platform for discussion and summing up of the project implementation, as well as for exchange of information and best practices in the area of interagency and inter-governmental information exchange between all project stakeholders, business representatives and representatives of the international community.
At the conference was presented first results of PRINEX system work: during one and half month functioning of PRINEX system 240 attempts of smuggling were prevented and and the price of the goods confiscated at the border has increased by 2.3 times thanks to the system. “The system has proved its effectiveness,” pointed our Mr. Bilan, First Deputy Head of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine (SFSU). Deputy Head of the State Customs committee, in his turn, highlighted that these changes will only contribute to the favorable investment climate in the region.
All stakeholders that were involved in the project implementation marked the successful completion of the project. Valdas Davydenas, the international customs expert of “PRINEX” project, highlighted that from the moment of installation and work of system at all BCPs at the common border of Ukraine and Belarus, no failures in operation have occurred. However, successful implementation of the project doesn’t meant that there’s no necessity of further capacity building activities, professional trainings for the customs officials of both countries as well as improvement of IT infrastructure. This is exactly what requires further work in the future.
Moreover, the conference became a platform for experience exchange among other countries and organizations, as well as provided experts with the opportunity to share their recommendations that might be useful for further improvement of the system’s work. Therefore, at the conference participated representatives of Moldova, Germany, Latvia, the World Customs Organization and representatives of commercial carriers associations.
At the conference the informational video about PRINEX system and its advantages was presented for the first time. The video was produced within the framework of information campaign, which also includes dissemination of the printed materials with the information about the system among beneficiaries and placement of the relevant banner at the border check points.
In addition to the above, one of the important news announced at the conference was the statement of the First Deputy Head of SFSU about forthcoming second phase of the project (PRINEX-2) aimed at further modernization of customs agencies of Belarus and Ukraine through development automated video control system. This issue is under EU’s consideration.
