Traffic through Poland's Dorohusk border checkpoint resumes, while traffic to Hungarian Zahony checkpoint remains fluid - Ukrainian authorities
MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) - Traffic on the Polish side at the Dorohusk checkpoint (leads to Yagodin on the Ukrainian side) has resumed along an alternative road after protesters blocked the main highway, Ukrainian media reports, citing Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure, Sergei Derkach .
"Yesterday the protesters even parked and blocked traffic on one of the roads with a cargo vehicle, but now the police are trying to remove it from the road, and the trucks are passing on another road, so there are no traffic jams yet," he said. A video of his statements was posted on YouTube.
Since the Yagodin-Dorohusk border checkpoint was unblocked in the middle of the day on December 11, more than 100 trucks have used it to enter and exit Ukraine, Derkach said.
The deputy minister noted that a great contribution to the unblocking of the checkpoint was made via the collection of data on violations of protest conditions by both police and protesters, namely their refusals to allow humanitarian aid and dangerous goods to pass.
Three more Ukrainian-Polish checkpoints remain blocked, but continue to operate, Derkach said.
As for the protest actions of Hungarian carriers at the Zahony-Chop checkpoint announced on December 11, the deputy minister said that they are not hindering the movement of freight transport.
"They are not blocking traffic. That is, traffic at the Zahony-Chop border checkpoint is as it was, but there are protesters along the road, and they are under the control of the Hungarian police. So far there are no clashes or problems," Derkach said, describing the current situation.
As previously reported, Polish protesters blocked the road on the Polish side in the direction of the Dorohusk checkpoint with a car and a trailer on the evening of December 11, despite the Polish authorities revoking permission to hold the protest earlier on Monday. Polish police, armed with shields, tried to unblock the road on Tuesday night.
Lines outside the blocked crossing points on the Ukrainian-Polish border stretched out to 40 kilometers on the Polish side of the border due to Polish carriers protesting at the Yagodin-Dorohusk, Krakovets-Korczowa and Rava Russkaya-Hrebenne checkpoints starting November 6. Polish truckers extended the blockade to include the Shegini-Medyka border crossing on November 22. Only border crossings processing empty trucks and light-duty vehicles remained open to traffic.
The blockade organizers want the transport permits for Ukrainian truckers suspended in 2022 to be reinstated. According to them, they have permission from local authorities to continue their campaign until January 3, 2024 and at some checkpoints, until February. Ukraine, in turn, expects the border to be fully unblocked after the new government led by Donald Tusk comes to power in Poland.
Slovak haulers, who held a warning protest in November, joined Polish truckers on December 1, blocking the Vysne Nemecke-Uzhgorod crossing on the border with Ukraine. They stopped the protest in the evening on December 4, but resumed it on December 11.
Hungarian carriers also announced protests starting on December 11 at one of the checkpoints with Ukraine.
Ukrainian exports by road fell 26.7% to 783,000 tonnes in November month-on-month, and imports dropped 23.5% to 967,100 tonnes, the Ukrainian State Customs Service said. In particular, Ukrainian exports via Poland declined 39.3% to 282,300 tonnes, while imports dropped 44.6% to 511,600 tonnes. Out of the four blocked border crossings, the biggest decline was recorded at the Yagodin-Dorohusk crossing, with exports by truck falling almost 80% to 32,400 tonnes and imports 67.7% to 113,700 tonnes.
Exports by truck via Hungary increased by 0.3% to 163,200 tonnes and imports grew by 39.4% to 137,500 tonnes in November. Exports via Slovakia fell 6.9% to 66,200 tonnes in November, while imports rose 29.1% to 88,300 tonnes.