Top Ukrainian, Polish officials discuss amendments to permit-free transport agreement
MOSCOW. March 12 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Deputy Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Sergei Derkach and Polish Deputy Infrastructure Minister Pawel Gancarz discussed the agreement enabling Ukrainian truckers' permit-free access to the European Union, the situation on the Polish-Ukrainian border and joint customs and border control by the two countries' services at a meeting of the Polish-Ukrainian economic cooperation commission in Lvov.
"The agreement on cargo transport liberalization is a matter of survival for our economy. This is a necessity for our trucking services market," Ukrainian media outlets quoted Derkack as saying on social media after the meeting.
The European Commission is due to finish gathering proposed amendments to the permit-free transport agreement from EU member countries on March 12, he said.
"After that, we will forward our comments on all points. The key thing is that no changes should place restrictions on our carriers and any new criteria should be transparent, clear and measurable," he said.
Due to discrepancies in the translations of the agreement, Poland's inspectorate is stopping trucks of Ukrainian companies that transport goods using their own vehicles rather than hire other carriers, Derkach said. Derkach said he had asked colleagues to prevent such situations, adding that this point would be fine-tuned as the agreement is extended.
The parties also discussed the border blockade.
"The colleague stressed that carriers have not joined the blockade. There are only farmers. This is the result of our joint work and our continuous dialogue," he said.
At the same time, another problem is the suspension of registration via the eQueue system at the Nizhankovichi-Malhowice border crossing, where 800 trucks are now waiting to cross the border. The line may be cleared in eight days if the checkpoint operates stably, Derkach said.
The talks with Gancarz also addressed the need to enlarge the border crossings' throughput capacity for passenger buses, especially at night, he said.
"We have instances when 6-10 buses arrive at a border crossing per hour in peak hours, but it can clear three buses at the most during this period of time. Meanwhile, passengers have to wait inside the bus for hours, which is not normal at all. Everything should be symmetrical both on our side and on the Polish side. We agreed to discuss this issue in greater detail later," Derkach said.
Poland will soon finalize the text of the agreement on joint customs and border control, he said.
"Technical consultations took place on Friday. One more meeting is due to be held now. After that, the Polish side will send the text to the European Commission to receive its feedback," Derkach said.