Poland reopens border to trucks from Ukraine - Ukraine's State Customs Service

MOSCOW. July 2 (Interfax) - Truck traffic through checkpoints on Ukraine's border with Poland has resumed, Ukrainian media reported, citing Ukraine's State Customs Service.

Thanks to the Polish side's resolution of the issue of border crossings by trucks with Ukrainian registration, passage of trucks through checkpoints on the border with Poland located in the Lvov customs zone has resumed, the Customs Service said on Telegram.

Poland suspended entry and exit at the border for Ukrainian trucks without international freight transport permits as of midnight on July 1.

Ukraine's Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Ministry notified the European Commission about the situation, since, in Kiev's view, no permits are required for bilateral shipments. This is an internal communications problem on the Polish side and Poland's Infrastructure Ministry is trying to resolve the problem with the customs service, Deputy Infrastructure Development Minister Sergei Derkach said.

Ukraine and the European Union now have a so-called transport visa-free agreement that provides bilateral rights to Ukrainian and European truckers to haul freight on one another's territory. The agreement, which was originally signed in June 2022, was then extended to the end of June 2024 and recently it was extended for another year, to June 2025.

However, now the agreement includes a protective clause that allows its suspension in certain geographical areas where serious violations are found on the trucking market.

The updated agreement includes most of the proposals that were prepared in cooperation with Polish trucks and taking into account their expectations, Poland's Infrastructure Ministry said earlier. The provision that allows the suspension of the agreement in the event of serious violations on the trucking market was introduced as a result of many months of intensive efforts made by the ministry, it said.

Infrastructure Minister Dariusz Klimczak said Warsaw would continue to carefully analyze the situation on the trucking market and if necessary use the protective instruments included in the revised agreement.