Ukraine and Poland will open a border crossing for empty trucks on Monday in a bid to ease a blockade by Polish hauliers, whose protests have paralyzed traffic for weeks.
Polish truckers have been blocking major crossings with Ukraine since early November, demanding the reintroduction of entry permits for their Ukrainian competitors.
The Dolhobyczow-Uhryniv crossing, which currently serves cars and buses, will open to empty trucks travelling from Ukraine into Poland from Monday, Kyiv's border service said.
"The opening of Uhryniv is the first of a list of measures being implemented to unblock the border, reduce queues and increase the capacity of the Ukrainian-Polish border," it said.
Kyiv said Friday that the fallout from the Polish truckers' protest was "catastrophic" and that Ukrainian drivers stuck at the border were in a "dire" situation.
Huge queues have formed on both sides of the border, with many hauliers stuck in their vehicles for days in cold temperatures and with little food.
Warsaw said this week that it would carry out "stepped-up checks" on Ukrainian trucks travelling roads leading to the border in an effort to placate the protesting hauliers.
But protests have continued, and on Friday a major Slovakian truckers' union joined the protest, arguing that scrapping the permits for Ukraine put them at a disadvantage.
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Comments ( 1)
And it all unfortunately started with discrimination against Polish truckers/firms.
"Polish trucks wait in an electronic queue in Ukraine to cross back into Poland, in a system that is designed to give priority to Ukrainian companies. - Our trucks have to wait 12 days to leave Ukraine. To legally enter a car in the electronic queue I have to drive it into Ukraine first, can't do it ahead of time. Polish hauliers go to Lviv, or at most to Kiev. This takes 2 days and then they have to stand for 10 days waiting to be let out. A Ukrainian company, on the other hand, can book a place in Polish system's queue a few days in advance before it starts transport and before it even enters Poland. Once registered, they can even change the registration numbers of the cars in the system, while our companies do not have this possibility. If, despite this, they have to wait a day or two, they leave the car at the base, the driver takes a break and everything is fine. That's no way to work," Borkowski says. Polish carriers are not allowed to employ Ukrainians on this route. - I will not get an entry and exit permit for this man from Ukraine, while Ukrainian companies have access to the Szlak programme and in which they register trips," explains Borkowski. '
Quote 6 Nov 2023