A queue of 3.5 thousand cars formed on the border of Ukraine with Poland; negotiations between the parties did not lead to the easing of the blocking of checkpoints by carriers, a representative of the State Border Service said.
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A few weeks ago, Polish carriers, later joined by farmers, blocked road checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. They are demanding the reinstatement of the previously abolished permit system for Ukrainian commercial carriers, with exceptions for humanitarian aid and supplies for Ukrainian troops, the suspension of licenses for companies established in Ukraine after February 2022 and their inspection, and the separation of queues of empty and loaded vehicles. The line of trucks on the Polish side reaches 50 kilometers, and two Ukrainian drivers have already died in it.
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“The situation is unchanged. Four directions are blocked. As of the morning of December 10, according to information from Polish border guards, the queue towards Ukraine on Polish territory consisted of 3,500 cargo vehicles,” a representative of the border service said.
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According to him, the largest number of trucks are at the Shegini checkpoint – 1,200 and at Yagodin – 900.
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“We do not see any easing of blocking on that side after certain agreements, which could increase vehicle capacity,” he said.
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Recently, Polish-Ukrainian relations have become significantly more complicated due to the embargo on Ukrainian grain. Earlier, Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade of Ukraine Taras Kachka said that the country would introduce an embargo on some Polish agricultural products in response to the extension of the unilateral ban on the import of Ukrainian grain. Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki, in turn, promised to expand the Polish list of products prohibited for import from Ukraine.
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On September 15, the European Commission decided not to extend restrictions on the import of four types of Ukrainian agricultural products into several EU border countries, but obliged Kyiv to introduce export control measures. After this, the authorities of Slovakia, Hungary and Poland announced that they were extending the ban unilaterally. In this regard, Ukraine filed a complaint with the WTO. In response, three EU countries announced that they would boycott meetings of the coordination platform on Ukrainian grain.
