- Ukraine and Romania opened the Bila Tserkva–Sighetu Marmației crossing on October 8, 2026.
- The temporary crossing handles up to 400 passenger cars daily, with a weight limit of 3.5 metric tons.
- Trucks and buses must wait for completion of permanent facilities, which could accommodate 360 trucks and 50 buses daily.
Ukraine and Romania opened the Bila Tserkva–Sighetu Marmației road crossing on October 8, 2026, creating the first new automobile link between the countries in Zakarpattia in nearly 20 years.
The crossing joins Bila Tserkva in Ukraine with Sighetu Marmației in Romania, spanning the Tysa River. It is the region’s third road crossing with Romania.
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The new route is operating, but construction is continuing on the permanent facilities. Its first phase handles passenger vehicles only.
Mykola Kalashnyk, Ukraine’s Minister for Restoration, Infrastructure and Transport, announced the opening. He called it “the first new road crossing between our countries in Zakarpattia in almost 20 years.”
Kalashnyk said the crossing would provide “an additional route for people and businesses,” help redistribute traffic and ease pressure at existing checkpoints. He also pointed to family connections across the border.
The project, he said, is particularly important to residents of the Solotvyno territorial community, where Bila Tserkva is located. “A large ethnic Romanian community lives here,” Kalashnyk said, adding that many families have relatives across the border.
The crossing opens to cars before trucks and buses
The temporary first phase can process up to 400 passenger cars per day. It is limited to passenger vehicles weighing up to 3.5 metric tons.
Ukraine installed modular border and customs facilities while the permanent complex is being built. Ukrainian reporting says the checkpoint is intended to operate continuously, around the clock.
A completed facility is expected to add capacity for as many as 360 trucks and 50 buses per day. That expansion is still ahead.
Romanian reporting cites a different projection, up to 500 passenger cars per day in both directions. Ukrainian officials’ opening figure was 400 cars per day.
Kalashnyk said the next stage would create a full crossing for trucks and buses. In a statement carried by Ukraine’s Ministry for Restoration, Infrastructure and Transport, he called the opening “a tangible result of our systematic work to develop the western border.”
He also said that developing border infrastructure remained important during wartime. The crossing began operating before the permanent complex was finished.
Ukraine built the approach while Romania built the bridge
Ukraine built the access road and installed the modular facilities used for border and customs checks. Romania constructed the crossing facility on its side and the 268.8-meter Maramureș–Transcarpathia bridge over the river.
The bridge is part of Romania’s Sighetu Marmației II crossing facility. The Romanian-side project covers 1.2 kilometers of roadway and border infrastructure.
Construction began in July 2022 and took more than four years. Romanian project figures put the bridge and related crossing works at RON 135.8 million.
Other totals describe different parts of the work. The bridge construction contract ultimately reached approximately RON 161 million, or about EUR 32 million. The broader border-complex investment was reported at more than EUR 50 million.
A separate project summary put the overall value at almost EUR 49 million, including EUR 18 million in EU funding. The figures cover differing scopes, including the bridge contract, Romanian-side works and the wider cross-border project.
The EU contribution is associated with the “Culture of Solidarity” initiative. The European Commission said the bridge would facilitate the movement of people and goods, support communities on both sides of the river and strengthen regional resilience.
An older one-lane bridge still serves the neighboring route
The older Sighetu Marmației–Solotvyno crossing has a bridge made of wood and metal, built in the early 2000s. It has one traffic lane and two pedestrian walkways.
The new crossing adds another road route and is intended to divert traffic from existing checkpoints. It also serves communities with Romanian-speaking residents and longstanding family ties across the border.
Ukrainian officials have presented the project as both a local transport link and part of efforts to develop western routes during the war. The European Commission has emphasized movement of people and goods across the river.
Authorities are also discussing a crossing in Ivano-Frankivsk
A separate proposal would establish an operational crossing between Romania and Ukraine in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, linking the Verkhovyna area with Romania’s Maramureș County. It is not part of the route that opened in October.
Svitlana Onyshchuk, head of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Military Administration, said the two countries were discussing that proposal. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Romanian President Nicușor Dan were reported to be involved in negotiations.
As of October 14, 2026, the Bila Tserkva crossing remains in its temporary first phase. Freight and bus capacity depends on completion of the permanent complex.
