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Norway’s Armed Forces to prepare border-crossing construction site

Storskog border crossing point.

A new border-crossing point between Norway and Russia is one step closer to realization as Norway’s Armed Forces have offered to clear the building site of WWII explosives for a lot less than civilian contractors.

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Norwegian authorities have for years been discussing how to find funding for a new border check-point at Storskog. Russia already has announced a €26 million funding plan for a brand new check-point on their side of the border.

Statsbygg, the Norwegian Construction and Property Management Department last year announced that a new station would cost NOK 716 million (€98.9 million). Nearly two thirds of the sum would go to clearing the site for WWII explosives, as Statsbygg proposed using robot excavators for the work.

Only 700 meters from Storskog, Norway’s Border Guard Service is preparing to build a new station for its soldiers. The construction site was cleared by the Army’s own explosive clearing units and all preparations of the site had a total cost of less than one million NOK (€122,706), according to NRK.

The authorities have now decided that it would be best to shelve Statsbygg’s expensive plans and ask the Armed Forces to take care of the site for the border-crossing point. This was decided in a meeting between the Ministry of Justice, Statsbygg and the Armed Forces, NRK reports.

Norway’s Armed Forces are ready to clear the construction site in short notice, press spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ivar Moen says to NRK. 

The police have repeatedly warned that the increased traffic across the border could lead to chaotic situations if the capacities at the border-crossing point are not improved. The current building at Storskog was built in the early 90ies with a capacity of up to 150,000 border crossings annually. In 2013 the number of crossings was more than 320,000.