Finland may close Imatra - Svetogorsk checkpoint in the night time

“The tourist flow from Russia is falling three years yet, but the workload on the Finnish border guards is growing, because the reduction of staff is carry out”, - told reporters the commander of the border detachment in the southeastern part of Finland Isto Colonel Kurki on Wednesday. "Since 2014 we see decrease of passenger traffic. Its main cause is the bad currency exchange for the Russian. In 2015 7 million passengers were passing through our checkpoints. The decline from 2013 is amounted about 30% ", - he said. I.Kurki noted that a slight increase of passenger traffic is noted in the current year at the railway checkpoint Vainikkala. The checkpoint Vaalimaa maintains the level of the last year, and at the points Nuijamaa and Imatra, which are mainly used by the Russian tourists, the decline is in progress. “In 2013 it was decided to reduce the number of border guards by 40%. Taking into account the current security situation, it is considered now as a wrong decision. Therefore, the government returns the previous level of protection of the land border. But funding for it is not provided", - said I.Kurki. Thus, the issue of reducing the operating mode of the Imatra – Svetogorsk checkpoint is discussed. "We are talking about the possibility of closing the checkpoint in the night time", - added I.Kurki.