On October 7, deputies of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence visited the state border on a working trip.

On October 7, deputies of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence visited the state border on a working trip.

At the sector of Chernihiv BG Detachment, the deputies were shown the state of state border protection. Particularly, attention was focused on the importance of arranging border infrastructure.

Serhii Deineko, the Head of the State Border Guard Service, commented that the National Security Committee's visit to the state border provides an opportunity to get acquainted with the work of border guards at the spot.

“The result of this work will be an understanding of the needs and problems of the border guard agency of Ukraine. And I am sure that in the future it will help to solve all issues that will benefit the protection of the state border,” he said.

The Head of the border guard agency emphasized that MPs will be invited to go to the border with Russia for comparison, where the corresponding engineering and technical equipment is being actively conducted.

For his part, Oleksandr Zavitnevych, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, noted that it was very important to work out mechanisms to ensure that the border was securely protected.

“We visited the border with the monitoring mission, because we have one border and there are problems that need solution.  Before the trip we identified three main issues: the implementation of the law on the transfer of 50-meter strip along the border to the border guards for the arrangement of engineering facilities, direct engineering and technical support of control at the border, as well as the arrangement of BCPs”, underscored the Committee’s Chairman.

He added that in order to improve the work and service of BCPs and exit-entry checkpoints, they should be transferred to local communities. Separately, the national deputy stressed the need to provide equipment, including scanners for inspecting vehicles in order to prevent the concealment of contraband goods.

The People's Deputy of Ukraine, Pavlo Sushko, who is a member of the SBGS Board, also took part in the work. He noted that the engineering arrangement of the border is one of the first priorities in the border protection system.

“Our task, which we set ourselves, was to show our colleagues from the National Security Committee the problems of engineering arrangement because this requires proper funding. The issue of cooperation between law enforcement agencies at the border was also important,” he said. Separately, the MP stressed the importance of motivating border guards, including a decent level of salaries.

In the process of work, the representatives of the Verkhovna Rada Committee visited Novi Yarylovychi BCP, where they got acquainted with the procedure for registration of citizens, border and customs controls, the procedure for action in case of complications. They also visited the Hornostaivka railway BCP and the Dobrianka local BCP.

The People's Deputy Yurii Zdebskyi noted that they often try to save on the border, but they are trying to correct this issue.

“Currently, the process of creating a comprehensive program for engineering arrangement of the state border is underway. This is a large program that will allow to attract qualitatively investments, to allocate funds for specific measures of border engineering arrangement, which will give significant, high-quality results in border protection,” he said. The MP added that their Committee studies the situation in detail and constantly monitors the situation with the arrangement of the border.

The representative of Committee Serhii Rakhmanin pointed out that there are problems in security system concerning border protection, and these problems aren't solved as quickly as it would be desirable. “First, it is a question of proper funding of the State Border Guard Service. The funds allocated for the needs of border guards are too small. The rest concerns the technical equipment of border detachments and units: it should be better than it is, because the problem is related to the availability of modern necessary technical means”, he said.

The MPs of Ukraine noted that the information received during the working trip will be summarized, and proposals will be formed on its basis that will help in the practical solution of the relevant problems.