As of Monday 6.11 Polish carriers are protesting. Drivers blocked 3 crossings on the border with Ukraine by trucks. The protestors' demands are apparent – defending the Polish marketplace against unfair competition from outside the east border.
Drivers block the departure from Poland through crossings in Korczowa, Hrebenn and Dorohusk. They request to reconstruct the regulations that were in force before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. “There are solutions being introduced without consulting us, and we gotta find ourselves in this, and we are no longer able to find it,” says the carrier Jacek Sokol.
Prior to the war in Ukraine, trucks could only enter Poland on the basis of a peculiar permit. After February 24, 2022, this request was abolished. However, companies from across the east border cannot carry goods between the countries of the European Union. Polish carriers say that no 1 controls it. “These cars mostly come empty, collect loads from Poland and export it all over Europe. They just take our occupation – says Bartosz Jasinski, owner of the transport company.
"Today it is hard to talk about Polish transports to and from Ukraine, as we have completely lost this marketplace to Ukrainian carriers, who have increased the number of transports carried out respective times since the beginning of the Russian attack on this country," said Maciej Wroński, president of the Transport and Logistics Employers' Union. "Of course, the Ukrainian marketplace has never been crucial to our full industry. But on the another hand, he gave work to carriers from the Lublin and Podkarpackie voivodships who specialized in transport to the east. present they become bankrupt. In particular, in view of the recession, they will not find work elsewhere."
More about the scenes of the problem he said Rafał Mekler, a transport entrepreneur and politician of the Lublin Confederation. "In September last year my colleagues protested on the Polish-Ukrainian border. In March, it will be a year since the protest in the capital. We drove almost 300 saddle tractors to Warsaw in protest against companies with east capital destroying our market, against unfair competition from the east" - recalled Mekler.
"We got assurances from the government, we got different kinds of ideas to solve this situation. any things have been achieved, because, for example, the inclusion of the SENT strategy of permits is very successful in my opinion, due to the fact that the manufacture fought for it for respective years, and we managed to do so in practically respective months." However, these insignificant successes do not change the view of the situation. "All these people are affected by the messianic policy of the east PiS, which unfortunately returns the last shirt, at our expense. We will not agree to this," said Mekler.
In Korczowa, at the request of the voivode and crisis staff, police conduct Ukrainian cars at the terminal in convoys of 25 cars. It leads to the A4 motorway, which is open only to passenger cars. He made a good comment. Luke Warches“ I will compose so that everyone understands what is happening. Polish carriers are blocking border crossings against EU rules that de facto favour Ukrainian carriers that destruct the Polish TLS sector. In consequence to @PolskaPolice on someone's command – I place here on the utmost Ukrainian philosopher Mariusz Kamiński – helps to bypass the blockade, leading them along a way usually unavailable to trucks. Even at the end of its rule, must this power lie so ostentatically a pastry in front of Kiev?’
The timing of this operation is revealed by Radio RMF FM: “The Ukrainian drivers were waiting in line to leave Poland. The strike president says that his organizers have already made concessions and allowed 5 to be released alternatively of 1 truck per hour. However, they have not been informed of specified police intervention before, which makes the protest ineffective We were made in bambuko – says the upset Borkowski. The strike president says he hasn't heard any explanations either. I only spoke to the Police Chief in Radzymin, he received specified instructions “from aboveIt’s okay. ” I don't know why it's done – says Tomasz Borkowski and adds:
From unofficial information, I know there's been any kind of emergency staff that has ordered the police to bring this in. As Ukrainian trucks now simply bypass the protest, the full demonstration ceases to make sense. So far we've been very polite and peaceful, and we inactive think that this is how it should be, but I'm not going to hide that the guys who are freezing in the autumn weather are very annoyed by the situation. We have been sidetracked – explains Borkowski".
The Ukrainian side reacted sharply to the protest by the carriers. Vasyl Zreycz, Ukrainian ambassador to Poland, accused Polish carriers blocking the border in defence of their industry, of " a blow to Ukraine's backIt’s okay. ” "Blocating roads to border crossings of Ukraine with Poland in Hrebenny, Dorohusk, Korczowa by Polish carriers is simply a painful blow to the back of Ukraine, suffering from Russian aggression. The solidarity corridors between Ukraine and the EU are at risk. We are calling for a halt to the blockade of the border!” wrote the Ukrainian diplomat. Zwarycz's message was met with widespread criticism of commentators.
In 2023 alone almost 900 1000 Ukrainian trucks entered Poland. Before the war there were 180 1000 of them a year.
Przemysław Piasta
photo profile of Anna Bryłka (Confederal spokesperson) on the "X" platform
Think Poland, No. 47-48 (19-26.11.2023)
