The Polish owners of transport companies started a protest today at the border with Ukraine, allowing only some trucks to pass, reported the Polish edition “Banker”, quoted by “Focus”.
“We need the same protection that Polish farmers get,” they urge.
“We want to re-introduce trade permits for Ukrainian companies, as the number of their transports has increased 7.5 times. Before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Poland issued 160,000 transport permits, and currently there are more than 880,000. Until the end there will probably be up to 1.2 million transport permits per year. We want to protect our market,” said Tomasz Borkowski of the Committee for the Protection of Carriers and Employers in the Transport Sector.
Access to the three border points with Ukraine is blocked by 50 trucks. Protesters are demanding the re-introduction of trade permits, but excluding humanitarian and military aid. Carriers believe it would be logical to suspend licenses for non-EU companies until the origin of their capital is verified. According to Polish transport companies, most of them come from Russia.
The carriers are also demanding a return to the pre-war practice of two separate queues – empty lorries and lorries loaded with goods. Ukraine currently collects everyone in one queue, which means that the time to clear customs documents is extended, sometimes too much.
The organizers of the blockade have agreed to end it by January 3. They announced that they would only allow the passage of trucks transporting animals, humanitarian aid and military aid. Private cars will also cross the border freely.
Tags: Polish carriers blocked border Ukraine protection unfair competition
