The Union of Road Carriers of Slovakia (UNAS) is threatening to block Ukrainian carriers from crossing the border from the Slovak side.
Following the Poles, the Slovak carriers were ready to organize a blockade on the Ukrainian border. Their requirements are exactly the same. Are Ukraine’s problems with its EU neighbors increasing?
Slovak demands
The Union of Road Carriers of Slovakia (UNAS) is threatening to block Ukrainian carriers from crossing the border from the Slovak side if the European Commission does not restore the granting of commercial permits for transport within the EU.
UNAS Chairman Stanislav Skala noted that the carriers are asking the Ministry of Transport to start cooperating with the European Commission and demanding the return of permits for their colleagues in Ukraine. According to him, if the EC does not do this, “UNAS is ready to immediately support Polish carriers and block the border crossing for Ukrainian carriers from the Slovak side.”
UNAS said it disagreed with an EU decision that canceled permits for Ukrainian carriers after Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
Earlier, UNAS sent a letter to the Ministry of Transportation, in which they said that the Ukrainians “are taking away jobs from our carriers.”
“We want to point out that the Slovak cargo transport is on its knees. As you noticed, the Polish carriers block their borders because they have the same problem as our carriers. The Slovak Ministry of Transport does not pay attention to the transport of cargo for a long time and is completely ignored,” the letter said.
We have not yet reconciled the poles
Representatives of the Polish trucking company blocking the Ukrainian border said recent talks with Ukrainian officials had failed to end the dispute.
On Monday, November 13, some of the Polish carriers met with representatives of the Ukrainian and Polish governments.
“We did not reach an agreement. The Ukrainian side did not consider our demands,” said Rafal Mekler, protest organizer in the border town of Dorogusk.
According to the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure, blockers have six requirements:
– return of permits for Ukrainian carriers;
– restriction of transport requirements within the ECMT framework (certificates of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport);
– prohibition of registration in Poland of companies with capital from outside the EU;
– having access to the Ukrainian system “Road”;
– separate queues for cars from the EU in the eCherga system;
– allocation of separate queues for empty vehicles.
Will Ukraine not agree to the demands?
Satisfying the demands of Slovak and Polish carriers is extremely unprofitable for Ukraine.
Ukraine does not even intend to discuss returning to the permit system for our carriers, said the head of the state agency for reconstruction and infrastructure development, Mustafa Nayem.
According to him, in fact, the licensing system is an artificial barrier to free trade, limiting not only bilateral trade, but also the transit of our goods to EU countries.
“And I really hope that we will not go back to this shameful and discriminatory practice. A practice that limited us from trade with the EU before the global war and can hit our economy today when road transport is the mainstay of our exports. For example, in 2021 alone, due to the Polish permits crisis, we lost up to 500 million euros simply because the permits ran out, and the Polish side refused to issue new ones. The market then just became,” stressed Nayem.
The Polish, and together with the Slovak carriers, did not intend to retreat either.
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.