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As previously reported, the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs has contacted its partners, the largest business association in the EU, Businesseurope, and relevant Polish organizations, urging them to contribute to resolving the problematic situation involving the blockade of freight transport by Polish carriers at the Ukrainian-Polish border.
Earlier, other Ukrainian business organizations indicated that companies are losing up to 1 million UAH for each day of the Polish border blockade.
"We do not question the right of Polish regulatory authorities and international carriers to uphold their position within the existing legislation in Poland. However, in accordance with international norms, any protest actions should not impede the freedom of transit as the fundamental principle of GATT and the World Trade Organization, of which our countries are members. In our opinion, the majority of demands from Polish protesting carriers are unfounded," the ULIE appeals state.
The Business Union points out that among the strikers' demands, there are strangely no claims against Polish customs and border guards who systematically fail to comply with the Memorandum between Ukraine and Poland "On the introduction of a system of advance notification of the occurrence of emergencies at the Ukrainian-Polish border to ensure the regularity of passage operations." This memorandum also establishes the variable norm of registration of vehicles for each checkpoint.
During the period of August-September-October this year, control indicators were met at 70%-50% (depending on the checkpoint) of the agreed norms.
"Polish border guards and customs officers systematically delay the passage of vehicles through the Ukrainian-Polish border. Even in the pre-war period, Ukrainian carriers were annually reducing the quota of permits, and accordingly, a return to the permitting procedure during military operations could lead to a complete blockade of the work of Ukrainian international carriers and the international road transport industry as a whole," noted the ULIE.
As it is known, on August 19, the Law of the Republic of Poland "On the Posting of Drivers in Road Transport" came into force, which discriminates against drivers and carriers from third countries (non-EU countries) conducting bilateral transport and transport to/from Poland.
Associations of international road transport carriers from Ukraine, Moldova, and Turkey sent a joint letter to the Union of Road Transport Associations of the Black Sea Region (DSTC-URTA) and the International Road Transport Union (IRU), informing about the discriminatory provisions of the law and asking to intervene in the situation and help repeal the provisions of the Law that extend its effect to drivers and carriers from third countries.
Since Poland is one of Ukraine's most devoted allies in the fight against the aggressor, and the current crisis negatively affects not only bilateral Ukrainian-Polish relations but also the economic climate throughout Europe, the ULIE hopes for full support from Businesseurope and Polish associations in resolving this issue.