Polish transporters have threatened to block three check-in terminals at the border with Ukraine from November 6 due to the EU’s excessive liberalisation towards carriers from Ukraine, according to Do Rzeczy.
According to Rzeczpospolita, the roads to the main truck registration terminals on the Polish-Ukrainian border – Korczowa, Dorohusk, and Hrebenne – will be closed from November 6. The protest was originally scheduled for November 3, but police asked for a rescheduling.
Representatives of Polish companies announced three demands: they want the introduction of commercial vehicle permits for vehicles from Ukraine, the exclusion of Polish vehicles from the Ukrainian electronic queue, and the inability to register companies in Poland if the funds are not in the EU.
Since the outbreak of Ukraine’s war with Russia in February 2022, the EU completely cancelled the requirement for Ukrainians to obtain the above-mentioned permits for one year, subsequently extending this regulation until June 2024.
Tomasz Borkowski, a spokesman for the protesting hauliers, stated that “880,000 lorries have crossed the border this year, and by the end of the year there will be a million.”
Prior to the war, each side had 180,000 permits, and that’s the difference.
Rafał Mekler, a haulier from Lublin, noted that Polish vehicles queue electronically in Ukraine, whose system gives local companies an advantage.
“Ours are queuing for 12 days each to leave Ukraine. To legally put a vehicle in the electronic queue, I have to enter Ukraine on it. Polish carriers go to Lviv, while the furthest is Kyiv. It takes two days, and they queue for 10 days.”
Ukrainian media reports that trucking could become a new problem in Polish-Ukrainian relations after the grain embargo. However, local officials are confident that the authorities will be able to reach an agreement with the new Polish government on mutually beneficial terms.
