Polish truckers have prolonged their blockade alongside the border with Ukraine to protest in opposition to competitors from Ukrainian drivers, a few of whom have been caught for 17 days in freezing temperatures, in an additional blow to Kyiv’s commerce and struggle efforts in opposition to Russia.
Backed by native Polish farmers and their tractors, lorry drivers on Thursday blocked the important thing border crossing at Medyka, increasing a protest that began at three different crossings on November 6.
Two Ukrainian truckers ready to cross have since died, in line with officers and labour unions in Kyiv, as queues stretching so far as 25 kilometres fashioned on either side of the border at a number of crossings.
Greater than 1,000 Ukrainian vans had been already queueing at Medyka early on Thursday, native media reported. Solely passenger automobiles and vans carrying army gear or humanitarian assist had been allowed to cross unobstructed. Protesters have warned that their blockade could possibly be maintained till January.
Early final yr Medyka was one of many principal gateways for refugees fleeing Ukraine to Poland and different components of the EU. The border crossing can also be near the south-eastern Polish metropolis of Rzeszów, which turned a giant transit hub for army and humanitarian assist to Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Ukrainian officers criticised the protest’s escalation. Taras Kachka, deputy financial system minister for commerce, stated the dispute must be solved “on the negotiating desk . . . however not on the street in the course of the winter the place injury is precipitated not solely to the economies however to the well being and lifetime of drivers caught there”.
“There’s snow and freezing temperatures on the roads, with individuals caught with out entry to correct sanitary situations,” Kachka stated on Ukrainian tv on Thursday.
Following the casualties, Ukraine’s embassy in Warsaw issued a recent demand to Polish authorities to interrupt up the protest. “This can be very vital to save lots of lives, cease the blocking of motor automobiles and provides drivers the chance to return residence with out hindrance,” the embassy stated in a be aware.
Ukraine’s affiliation of street cargo truckers warned €400mn in income has been misplaced due to the blockade. The state of affairs may worsen on condition that truckers in neighbouring Slovakia have additionally briefly blocked border crossings with Ukraine, it stated.
“The state of affairs is similar each in Poland and Slovakia — what they’re doing is violating the European Union treaty [that prohibits] blocking the checkpoints,” stated Volodymyr Balin, vice-president of Ukraine’s truckers affiliation.
On Wednesday, lengthy queues fashioned on the principal Hungarian border crossing with Ukraine, as drivers sought to avoid Poland and Slovakia.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland has referred to as the protest “a painful stab in Ukraine’s again” and the federal government in Warsaw has urged the drivers to raise their blockade.
However the outgoing authorities led by the rightwing Regulation and Justice (PiS) celebration, which has stalled the comeback to energy of Donald Tusk as prime minister, is avoiding a full-on confrontation with truckers who’re the logistical cornerstone of the Polish financial system. Tusk is anticipated to return to workplace after main a coalition of events to victory in parliamentary elections in October.
The Polish truckers have written to the European Fee to demand that the EU restore transport quotas for Ukrainian vans that had been lifted final yr to assist Kyiv’s struggle in opposition to Russia. The fee has stated this was a bilateral challenge.
“It’s good that the European Union determined to open the border in a essential struggle state of affairs, however this could not final and permit Ukrainian carriers to ascertain themselves on our market,” Jan Buczek, president of the Polish affiliation of worldwide street carriers, advised the Monetary Instances.
Poland has the EU’s largest truck fleet and its drivers’ complaints are additionally seen as a harbinger of the robust commerce negotiations awaiting Ukraine earlier than it could be part of the EU.
Ukraine’s exports to the EU are transported more and more by street since Russia’s full-scale invasion final yr. Street transport accounted for 43 per cent of the general worth of Ukrainian exports to the EU, in line with Natalia Shpygotska, deputy head of analysis at Kyiv-based funding financial institution Dragon Capital.
The Polish blockade hurts significantly Ukrainian exports of wooden and furnishings, automobile components and vegetable oils. It is usually endangering the one-quarter of imported gasoline provides that Ukraine transports by street by way of Poland, Shpygotska added.
Tymofiy Mylovanov, president of the Kyiv College of Economics and an adviser to Ukraine’s authorities, stated some Ukrainian companies had already been pushed into disaster by the Polish blockade, citing the instance of a constructing supplies producer that misplaced 60 per cent of its export enterprise consequently.
The blockade additionally deepens a commerce dispute between Warsaw and Kyiv after imports of Ukrainian grain had been banned to guard Polish farmers, regardless of that measure violating the EU’s widespread commerce coverage.
Ukraine’s Black Sea ports within the Odesa area proceed to perform regardless of Russian assaults, making Poland much less vital for Ukrainian grain exports, say analysts.
Chicago wheat futures climbed 1 per cent to a close to two-week excessive on Wednesday in response to the newest Russian assaults on Odesa relatively than the near-closure of the Polish border, stated Andrey Sizov, managing director of Black Sea grain consultancy SovEcon.
Further reporting by Andy Bounds in Brussels
