Confederate press conference attended by Krzysztof Mulawa and Rafał Mekler, 28 January 2025.
Krzysztof Mulawa:
– The main subject of our press conference will be the Ukrainian transport industry, which – attention – complains Poland to the European Union. The Polish transport manufacture was 1 of the strongest in the European Union. This happened for a simple reason: Polish carriers are people of a strong character, people of hard work and skills. According to the study “Road Transport in Poland in 2023” we read that the Polish transport, forwarding, logistics sector was liable for 7% of Polish GDP and almost 6.5% of the employment of all people working in Poland. A immense crowd, represented by Rafał Mekler, among others.
I represent the Confederation, but besides represent the Siedlecko-Ostrołęcki district, where Polish transport companies, tiny and medium-sized Polish transport companies are based. And on behalf of the companies in this district, I besides appear before you. Our transport manufacture is very strong, truly strong inactive in Europe, and this is happening despite the fact that we heard it a fewer years ago – and unfortunately it has been incorporated, Polish carriers must comply with the mobility package, which has importantly hampered the functioning of Polish carriers in the European Union, but unfortunately we gotta deal with it.
We request that all companies operating in the European Union should besides adapt to this mobility package.. Not only today, in 2025, but besides in 2024 or in 2023, as Polish carriers gathered at the first meetings in the territory of Łukaszów, erstwhile they protested against unfair competition from Ukraine, it is present that we inactive have this immense number of Ukrainian carriers who do not want to comply with Polish law, driving around Poland or driving around the European Union! It was very good that they were covered by the SENT system, not only by Ukrainian carriers, of course, due to the fact that this SENT strategy besides included carriers from all of our east borders: Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and another countries outside the European Union. But there are still, unfortunately, respective elements that function in relation to the Polish carrier, specified as this mobility package, but besides do not work for the Ukrainian carrier – and this is simply a large scandal.
The scandal is besides that we are dealing with media statements, but these are not media statements of an accidental typical of the Ukrainian people, only the typical of the Ukrainian authorities, the deputy minister, Sergei Derkacz, who on 1 of the social networks complained that he must comply with Polish law, that the Ukrainian carrier must comply with Polish law, crossing the Ukrainian-Polish border. This is simply a scandal. Anyone who wants to operate in the territory of the Republic of Poland, the European Union – whether it is simply a Polish carrier or a Ukrainian carrier – is to conform to Polish law.
I believe that this message by Mr Sergey Derkacz is irresponsible, but at the same time I think he is unfortunately representing the approach that Ukrainian carriers have. It cannot be that you do not like the fact that Ukrainian drivers will get tickets for not complying with the Polish law, that they do not have informing triangles or for any reason you do not know why they abruptly lose access to the GPS system, on the basis of which the SENT strategy operates – and during this break in the supply of GPS there may be unauthorised, even prohibited cabotage. I want to be very clear on behalf of the Confederate, on behalf of the Polish people, this is simply a call to the Deputy Minister, to all carriers, but besides to workers from various industries, Ukrainian workers, that you must comply with Polish law. If you do not want to comply with Polish law, we thank you very much, the Polish-Ukrainian border is long and wide – and the border crossings are open 2 ways.
Rafał Mekler:
– In fresh years the Polish transport manufacture has been hit by 3 specified major “plagues”.
The first plague is regulations, mainly EU.
The second plague is deconunctionThe 1 we're dealing with right now.
The 3rd plague is an inflow of uncontrollable capital from the east.
Now, in a very brief way, referring to these 3 cases.
Well, something that the Polish transport manufacture has been destroying for many years, for good, is the European Union's regulationsj. The first specified symptom was the mobility package, whose implementation into Polish law deprived us to a large degree of competitiveness, due to the fact that the government then forgot how we seem to operate in Europe; we do not operate locally only, we gotta compete with carriers from different countries. And as it turned out, the mobility package, despite being an EU rule, despite the fact that, as we frequently hear, these EU displays must be strictly respected, turns out that the mobility package in different countries was implemented differently with different levels of burden, which had a crucial impact on the competition of Polish carriers with carriers from another countries. Going further, our state regulations, i.e. Poland's Deal, constantly raising the minimum wage, it is besides not without impact on the industry, due to the fact that it generates additional costs, not giving emergence to fresh revenues.
Moving on, ETS regulations. individual will say: the ETS does not concern carriers. No, ladies and gentlemen, for example ferry crossings, which have increased by respective twelve euros due to the ETS. We hear about ETS 2, which will be introduced in 2027. The ETS 2 will be a top-down taxation on fuel distributors, at the level of fuel wholesalers, who simply then have this taxation on all of us in the world. due to the fact that we're all fueling our cars.
Moving on, KPO. Yes, sir. KPO besides touches transport. We have 1 of the milestones, which straight does not contact transport, but, interestingly, the condition of obtaining money from this “milly” stone, as we say in the Confederation, at the neck of Polish transport, was to increase the number of roads to be paid for road transport, in exchange for which the European Union will subsidize railways.
We see 2 industries here. 1 that manages organically alone, without any state subsidies, without anything – and we charge this manufacture so that the other, which is little competitive due to the rachistic structure, due to the full system, we add to the weaker 1 to equalize it. That's not how it should work, due to the fact that at the end of the day, you're gonna pay more for the goods on the shelf, due to the fact that until we figure out the teleport, everything that's on the shelf is brought in by a truck, and you should remember that.
The KPO, the ETS, the Polish Deal, the Green Deal, the mobility package, all these regulations have affected carriers. Recently, the flagship initiative, which was truly the consequence of the mobility package, namely the exchange of full efficient tachographs for fresh ones that will let the services to control the trucks remotely! We won't gotta halt the truck anymore! All they gotta do is drive by the truck, read the data, send a ticket straight to the company. That's it.
We see here this momentum of the European Union to control everything, to hold everybody's face, so that in no area of life there is area for error.
The second thing is the deconiecture, which is actually the consequence of this first regulation, which is why I spoke of the regulations first, due to the fact that all these environmental issues, with the ETS, have an impact on the cost-effectiveness of production in our country. It turns out that unfortunately our competitiveness is falling due to the fact that we have costly electricity, we have costly work, we have costly natural material! And now we will have costly transport in a moment, which will consequence in, again, what I have just said, we in the European Union do not operate at national level, we operate at EU level.
As a result, our competitiveness is at EU level, and here, unfortunately, another countries, for us, are far more sensible than our country, which, as you can see, 7% of GDP, has nothing to do with a million people employed in transport! And the 3rd specified plague that affected us most in the East, of course, is the war, the closure of the east market. I talk not only east in the European context, but east in the Asian context, due to the fact that as Poles we have expanded to Asian markets. Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan were destinations where Polish trucks could be met. present all these directions are closed for us, ladies and gentlemen. We in the country gotta deal with the influx of capital from the east.
If we have already managed to destruct the capital from Russia and Belarus, who came to us, founded companies and already under the Polish nomen omen, the flag opened companies and acted, competing with us, while they did not comply absolutely with the requirements, with Polish law, due to the fact that – as I said, as I said before – they besides have the right for nothing. The problem remains, as I say, that we have eliminated Belarusian and Russian capital, that the Ukrainian capital remains, due to the fact that nobody talks about it, but there are businessmen from Ukraine coming to us, who import immense amounts of money and on the basis of how they operate, it can be concluded that it is not about doing this activity as it is done on a free marketplace basis, where profit is that imperative of action.
You can get the impression that the point of these companies' operation is simply to legalize this money. And here, at this point, nobody wants to take the subject, we are the only ones in the Confederacy who talk out. Ladies and gentlemen, erstwhile again, at the end. Transport is the blood of the economy. You can't let us get free of 7% of GDP so a million people lose their jobs. In Poland we have a million 3 100 1000 trucks. Each of these trucks is simply a road taxation to the municipality! This is the full structure of connected vessels that will collapse if we truly don't do something, if the government does not take action that will at least let us to last for this period, will lead us to a state of “hibernation” – in quotes of course, that is, it will not give us the most average in the planet of time, that we can live to those better times, to the prosperity that, I hope, all of us here and all of us who are watching us, on this prosperity you hope.
Entry Ukraine hits the transport manufacture liable for 7% of Polish GDP! pochodzi z serwisu Confederation.
