Polish transport operators have been blocking entry at crossings with Ukraine for three weeks. The transporters want the reinstatement of permits abolished due to the war on commercial transport for Ukrainian drivers and the sorting out of the e-queue on the Ukrainian side, which is said to prolong border crossing times and encourage corruption.
The Dorohusk-Jagodzin and Hrebenne-Rawa Ruska crossings in the Lubelskie Voivodeship, Korczowa-Krakowiec, Medyka-Szeginie in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship are blocked.
The Polish transport industry announces the expansion of its action. The number of protesters is increasing every day. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Polish and Ukrainian sides each accounted for 160,000 transports per year. Now the number of Ukrainian transports has exceeded 800,000 per year.
The protesters are demanding the restoration of permits for Ukrainian transport operators to drive on EU roads. The permit system was abolished after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The new regulations resulted in a decrease in costs for Ukrainian operators and, as a result, Polish transport companies that were unable to compete with Ukrainian companies began to be pushed out of the market.
The demand for the restoration of commercial transport permits was supported by transport organisations from five countries: ZMPD (Poland), MKFE (Hungary), Cesmad Bohemia (Czech Republic), Cesmad Slovakia (Slovakia) and Linava (Lithuania).
Serhiy Derkacz, Deputy Minister of Community, Territory and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, persuades that “the problem is getting more serious every day, because 30 % of the supply for the Ukrainian energy sector passes through Poland”, and the blockade threatens to collapse it.
Once an hour, three transports are allowed across the border. Humanitarian aid and military supplies are allowed through without restrictions.
The EU Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council will meet on 4 December to propose solutions to end the protest.
Adrian Andrzejewski