Polish carriers' protest: how many trucks are currently waiting to leave Poland

About 2,500 trucks are waiting to leave Poland at the Ukrainian-Polish border at three checkpoints, where traffic is blocked by Polish carriers.

This was announced by the spokesman of the State Border Service of Ukraine, Andriy Demchenko, on the telethon "Ediny Novyny".

The queue that is forming on Polish territory from trucks that want to cross the border towards Ukraine is only growing. As of today, 2,500 trucks are waiting to cross the border, but their movement is hindered by Polish carriers

said Demczenko.

He added that most trucks go towards the Jagodin checkpoint - over 50%. Others focus on the "Rava-Ruska" and "Krakowiec" checkpoints.

Traffic is difficult in three directions on most roads: both entering and leaving Ukraine. There is only one direction left, along which cars leaving Ukraine for Poland move more or less intensively - this is the "Krakowiec" checkpoint

Demchenko explained.

He also expressed hope that the checkpoints would be unblocked thanks to the meeting of representatives of the Ministry of Social Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine with representatives of the Polish authorities and carriers scheduled for Monday, November 13.

A truck driver from Ukraine died in Poland while waiting to cross the border

A 54-year-old truck driver from Ukraine died in Poland in a parking lot near the "Dorogusk-Jagodin" border crossing while waiting to cross the border.

On Sunday (November 12), the police announced the man's death. The day before, police officers from Chełm determined that an unconscious man was lying next to a MAN truck. It took place in the parking lot at Hutnicza street in Chełm.

- The involvement of third parties has been initially ruled out. The findings show that the man may have consumed alcohol before the body was found. An open bottle of alcohol was found in the cabin of the vehicle - says junior aspirant Małgorzata Skowrońska from the Police Headquarters in Lublin. The man's body was secured for autopsy. The General Consulate of Ukraine has been notified.

What is known about the protest of Polish carriers

On November 6, around 2 p.m. Ukrainian time, Polish carriers began to block truck traffic at the "Krakowiec-Korchowa", "Jagodin-Dorohusk" and "Rava-Ruska-Hrebene" checkpoints.

Tomasz Borkowski said that representatives of transport companies joined the blockade of truck traffic. They demand the return of commercial transport permits to Ukraine because they are afraid of competition on the Polish market. The participants of the blockade declared that they would not block the traffic of buses, cars, and trucks transporting humanitarian aid to Ukraine, animals or perishable goods.

The "Ukrawtoprom" association, citing the Association of International Transport of Ukraine, noted that the reason for the protests is excessive competition after the liberalization of international transport between Ukraine and EU countries.

What does "visa-free transport" mean?

On June 14, 2022, Ukraine reached an agreement with the European Commission delegation on a special agreement on the liberalization of road transport, called “visa-free transport”, which is intended to solve the problem of the lack of permits for international transport. With the accession to international customs conventions and the initiation of appropriate legislative changes, Ukraine had to fulfill 81% of its obligations under the Association Agreement with the EU in the customs sphere.

Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Mustafa Nayem said that after signing the “visa-free transport” agreement, permits for international transport by EU countries will not be needed. Permits will only be available in non-EU countries.

On September 16, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky approved the agreement between Ukraine and the European Union on road transport of goods.