Kiev believes most of demands by Polish truckers threatening to block Ukrainian border unrealizable
MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) - Most of the demands by Polish truck operators planning to block a number of crossings on the Polish-Ukrainian border cannot be met, Ukrainian Minister for the Development of Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Sergei Derkach said in an interview with Ukrainian media.
"The demand on reinstating the system for issuing permits to Ukrainian truckers to work in the European Union looks unrealistic. There is an agreement between Ukraine and the EU under which Ukrainian truckers can move without permits in EU countries. The relevant agreement on the liberalization of freight transportation is valid until the end of June 2024. It is valid bilaterally, that is, our truckers can operate without permits [in Europe], and European truckers come to Ukraine on the same terms. That is, repealing the agreement at the level of the Polish government is simply impossible," Derkach said.
This is not the first time that Polish truckers have put forward such demands, and it is quite likely that they want to lay the groundwork for next year and influence negotiations on extending the agreement, he said.
Polish truckers play a key role in the European road haulage industry, and Poland accounts for more than half of vehicles transporting cargo across Europe, Derkach said. At the same time, Ukrainian truckers mainly transport cargo from Ukraine or to Ukraine rather than between other European countries, he said.
"They cannot affect and tumble freight rates in any way, contrary to what some are trying to claim," he said.
Another strange requirement is to tighten the ECMT rules for issuing multilateral road haulage permits, Derkach said.
The said rules were endorsed long ago and apply to absolutely all truckers from the ECMT participating countries, and transport companies operating vehicles complying with Euro-5 and Euro-6 standards have equal access to these permits, Derkach said. As for the rules for distributing these permits, applicants in Ukraine have to obtain them through a tender and comply with rigid enough requirements, he said.
Introducing a separate queue for vehicles with EU license plates would be unfair to truckers from Ukraine as well as from other countries, Derkach said.
"We don't have a specially separated queue for Ukrainian drivers on the border, and everyone who has registered can pass. Truckers from Turkey and other countries also travel via Ukraine. If you introduce a separate queue, they would have to wait until vehicles with EU license plates pass. There are no separate queues for Ukrainian trucks in any EU countries, either," he said.
As for separate queues for empty trucks, the Ustilug-Zosin and Nizhankovichi-Malchowice border checkpoints have been allocated specifically for such vehicles on the Polish border, he said.
"The opening of additional border checkpoints exclusively for empty vehicles is unrealistic, as Ukraine is interested in seeing as many crossings work for departing loaded vehicles as possible, which would help increase exports and strengthen our economy," Derkach said.
The Ugrinov-Dolhobyczow border checkpoint could be opened to let through empty vehicles, which has been proposed to Poland, he said.
Apart from that, Polish truckers do not have to register in the Shlyakh system, he said.
As reported earlier, the Ukrainian Ministry for the Development of Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure notified of preparations being made by Polish truckers to block crossings on the Polish-Ukrainian border and has initiated a meeting with Polish and European Commission officials to maintain the border's stable operations.
Earlier, the International Transport Association of Ukraine (ITAU) said that, starting November 3, Polish transport operators planned to block the border with Ukraine for two months. According to ITAU, their conditions included reinstating a system of permits for Ukrainian truckers, tightening ECMT rules, creating a separate waiting list for trucks with EU license plates in a special electronic system, creating a separate line for empty trucks, and providing access to the Shlyakh system.