Polish truckers to protest over Ukraine transport business
Polish hauliers have announced they would block cross-border freight with Ukraine from next week in protest against the alleged privileged treatment of Ukrainian businesses, the Rzeczpospolita daily has reported.
A line of trucks ahead of the Poland-Ukraine border crossing in Medyka, 14 May, 2023. Photo: PAP/Darek Delmanowicz
The campaign, which includes blocking three major border crossings with Ukraine dedicated to freight transport, is planned for two months starting November 6 and ending January 6, according to the newspaper.
The protest comes amid an economic slowdown in Europe and a relaxation of regulations for Ukrainian transport companies in 2022 by the European Union to ease the transport of goods to and out of the country invaded by Russia.
„Ukrainian transport companies are … entering without restrictions and carrying out transport operations they have no right to perform,”, protest co-organizer and deputy head of the Committee to Protect Transporters and Transport Employers Jacek Sokół told the Reuters news agency.
He described the current situation as Ukrainian hauliers’ free rein in Poland that is hurting local business.
„Now these companies are doing whatever they want. There is a complete, uncontrolled influx, just like with grain, ” he said.
According to Sokół, prior to Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian transport companies were granted 160,000-180,000 permits per year for specific shipments requiring entrance or transit through Poland, but not for shipments within the country.
Poland’s opposition far-right Confederation party has declared support for the blockade, the PAP news agency reported.
„Today, we are standing together with the leaders of the transport industry, with people running a business,” Confederation’s leader Krzysztof Bosak, was quoted as saying
„The protest is being re-launched, due to the failure of the government to meet the industry’s expectations,” Bosak added.
The blockade is just an opportunity to block the border for Ukrainian competitor truckers, Ukraine’s Deputy Infrastructure Minister Serhiy Derkach was quoted by local media as saying.
They account for 85% of those who cross the Ukrainian-Polish border to bring goods into Ukraine or export goods, he added.
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Source: PAP, Rzeczpospolita, Reuters
