Kyiv is trying to find compromises with Polish carriers blocking the Ukrainian border, but it is “difficult.”
Polish carriers protested for eight days at the border crossing from Ukraine in Lublin Voivodeship. They block the road for heavy transport, allowing only a few trucks out of the country each hour. Thus, the flow of cargo transportation on the Polish-Ukrainian border decreased tenfold.
Ukrainian drivers and businesses had high hopes for a meeting between the Ukrainian leadership and the protesters, but seven hours of negotiations came to nothing. Furthermore, the situation is starting to escalate because the farmers are starting to join the Polish carrier in protest.
“Absurd demands”
The previous day, on the Polish border, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine held a meeting with representatives of Polish authorities and carriers. During the negotiations, the protesters reiterated their main demand – a return to the permit system for cargo transportation. However, as the Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine Sergei Derkach said, this is an issue that is not discussed in such meetings.
“The absurdity of the request is that the Polish protesters did not turn to their government, but Ukraine wants to turn to the EU about the permits. Protesters are not interested in other issues. We are trying to find compromises to increase capacity and implement already concluded memorandum, but it is difficult,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
During the meeting, the Ukrainian delegation proposed to the Polish authorities to launch lanes for empty trucks at the Ugrinov-Dolgobychev and Grushev-Budomerz checkpoints.
“We are still waiting for an answer. We do not interfere with Polish carriers. Transportation in Ukraine is mainly carried out by train, because the land roads are overloaded,” explained Derkach.
“We will not back down and insist: blocking the border is a violation of several agreements. And the border must be unblocked immediately,” added the deputy minister.
The absurdity of the protesters’ demands was confirmed by the owner of one of the Polish logistics companies Agmaz, Luk-Maz and Imperia, Lukasz Mazur.
“In my opinion, these requirements are at least 70% impossible to meet, and certainly not now. Most of these issues are decided by the European Commission“, he told the Polish publication Ukrayina.pl.
The President of the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, former Polish Minister of Economy Jacek Pechota, in a commentary on Radio Liberty, also noted that It is now impossible to meet the requirements of Polish carriers, at least, because there is nothing to discuss. According to him, the protesters should postpone the strike until this moment until there is a new government in Poland.
Support for far right
Let’s remember that according to the Association of International Road Carriers of Ukraine, out of four Polish carrier associations, only one is on strike – Committee for the Protection of Carriers and Transport Employers (KOPiPT). According to the representative of KOPiPT, Artur Izdebsky, the committee works on a “bottom-up” principle, that is, the demands they expressed in Ukraine were presented by the drivers.
Another interesting point is that KOPiPT is a newly created association. It was established only in September 2023.
In addition, the protesters began to be actively supported by the far-right Polish Conference party, known for its anti-Ukrainian position. Also the day before, farmers who blocked the border with Ukrainian grain in the summer, and representatives of the processing industry joined the strike.
What is the current border situation?
Since yesterday’s negotiations did not lead to anything, the queue at the border continues to grow. On the morning of November 14, more than three thousand trucks were stopped from entering Ukraine, said Andrey Demchenko, a representative of the State Border Service of Ukraine, in a telethon.
“From Poland they pass one or more trucks per hour. The longest queue is in Yagodin, where about 1,300 trucks are lined up in the morning. Another 500 trucks are waiting in Krakivtsi and Rava Ruskoy,” he said. .
Demchenko clarified that Polish carriers blocked the most popular route for transporting goods. In particular, the Yagodin checkpoint, by agreement with Warsaw, from the beginning of the full-scale invasion was converted for cargo and passenger transport and no passenger vehicles were allowed there.
Getty Images
Today, due to the actions of Polish carriers, drivers have begun to choose alternative directions of travel, so there is congestion of trucks at checkpoints in Transcarpathia.
At the same time, on the Ukrainian side there is an electronic queue, so drivers do not accumulate in queues directly at the border, but can wait their turn in more suitable places.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.