Bribery to jump border queue
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• Hauliers entering Hungary are being forced to wait for to 34 hours because of the recently imposed weekend tr k ban, with some operators reporting that bribery is the best way to jump the queue.
All trucks over 10 tonnes have been barred from entering or driving in Hungary from 07:00hrs on Saturdays to 22:00hrs on Sundays.
Karl Nowotarski, international transport manager For Manchester-based Bergen Transport, says things are getti g worse. "There is no chance of getting across Hungary at all at
the weekend. At least in Germany, with their weekend n they give you four hours' grace at night to get moving." Nowatarski adds that bribing officials to get to the front of the queue is widespread but at least cheap, as officials ill accept as little as 30 Deutschrnarks, their favoured currency.
A Hungarian embassy spokesman says the ban s imposed for environmental reasons. Most trucks which are ot from the Visograd trade alliance countries of Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland are being checked, he adds.