On 6 November, Polish carriers went on strike at the Polish-Ukrainian border. Since then, traffic has been blocked at three major checkpoints: “Korczowa-Krakowiec, Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska, and Dorohusk-Yagodyn.
The key reason for the latest escalation is excessive competition, which Polish carriers cannot withstand. This is especially true after the liberalisation of international transport between Ukraine and the EU, including the cancellation of permits.
That is why the main demand of the protesters is to return permits for transit and bilateral transport to Ukrainian carriers with the EU.
The permits have always been a “headache” for Ukrainian businesses: they were in short supply, vehicles were idle, and entrepreneurs lost money. At the end of each year, only Polish carriers had permits, and they were running at inflated rates.
According to Polish statistics, this year alone, more than 800,000 bilateral and transit flights were made between Poland and Ukraine or between the EU and Ukraine. At the same time, Polish carriers demand that Ukraine be granted only 160,000 permits per year.
In practice, this actually means depriving Ukrainian transporters of the opportunity to travel to Europe and blocking exports. After all, sea routes are currently functioning in a limited way, and the railway is not coping. In addition, there are goods that are transported exclusively by road.
Another demand of the Polish side is a separate queue at the border.
“This will mean that Polish carriers will be able to run freely, while waiting times for Ukrainian companies will only increase. The checkpoints do not have the capacity to handle European transport separately” says Oleksandr Kyryliuk, Director of International Road Transport at ZAMMLER Group of Logistics Companies.
“In short, the main reason for the strike is to get preferences in order to increase their share of export-import operations with Ukraine” adds Kirilyuk.
“At the same time, the flow of goods to Poland is 6-8 times higher than to other countries. If thousands of trucks were redirected to the borders of Romania, Slovakia or Hungary, the queue would be 3-4 months long.
In addition, the blockade could result in a shortage of imported goods, ranging from household chemicals and hygiene products to production equipment and raw materials.
In short, the blockade of the border crossing points with Poland threatens Ukraine with major economic problems. Meanwhile, the protesters have permission to picket until 3 January 2024.
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