Polish carriers postpone start of blockade of border with Ukraine

Polish carriers say that they are postponing the beginning of the blockade of the movement of freight transport that will follow in the direction of the Dorohusk-Jagodzin, Korczowa-Krakovets and Rava-Ruska-Hrebenne checkpoints from 3 to 6 November. Source: European Pravda; Ukrinform; Tomasz Borkowski, co-chairman of the blockade and organiser of the protest near the Korczowa-Krakovets checkpoint. Tomasz Borkowski states the blockade begins at 13:00 (Kyiv time) on 6 November.

He added that Polish carriers officially registered the protest with local authorities till 3 January 2024. 

Piotr Zakielarz, a spokesman for the Bieszczady Department of the Polish Border Guard Service, confirmed that the strike action of Polish carriers should begin on 6 November.  Borkowski noted that the protesters will block the passage of trucks while humanitarian and military aid for Ukraine will be allowed to pass. "We would like not to organise this blockade at all.

If our requirements are met, we will not protest. However, today, it is not clear that anyone wants to talk to us," Piotr Zakielarz said, adding that the organisers sent their demands, particularly, to the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure.  The co-chairman of the blockade the resumption of road haulage permits for Ukrainian carriers among Poland's main requirements, specifying that there should not necessarily be as many of them as before the full-scale war, namely, up to 200,000 permits per year for cargo transportation.

He also called for the requirement to exclude Polish trucks from the E-queue for empty cars that return from Ukraine to Poland, noting that currently they have to wait 10-12 days to depart from Ukraine. As reported, Polish protesters declare their readiness to hold the blockade for up to two months. The list of demands of the protesters is considerable.

Some are technical, but the other concerns fundamental, basic things for Ukraine. The key requirement is the return of the system of road haulage permits for Ukrainian carriers to work in the EU. After the start of the full-scale war with the Russian Federation, the European Union took unprecedented steps to support the Ukrainian economy and cancelled the need for Ukrainians to obtain these permits for a year.

And in the summer of this year, the EU extended this norm until June 2024. Now, Polish carriers demand to fully cancel this benefit and return to the old licensing system.  Another requirement is to tighten the rules of Transportation under the ECTM, a certificate of the European Conference of Transport Ministers.

Kyiv plans to discuss this issue not only with the Polish authorities but also with the European Commission.

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