Ukraine escalates transport dispute with Poland It has breached the agreement on international rail transport by stopping the shipment of state wagons to Poland.
Ukraine escalates transport dispute with Poland It has breached the agreement on international rail transport by stopping the shipment of state wagons to Poland.
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> As of 20 January, Ukraine has announced the complete suspension of exports from Ukraine to Poland in wagons shipping wagons belonging to Ukrainian Railways (UZ). These primarily carry ore. PKP LHS will have to use private wagons. The ban was originally supposed to take effect from 1 January 2022.
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> The ban on the dispatch of wagons is the second aggressive step by Ukraine towards Poland, following the blockade of transport introduced on 30 November 2021. Ukraine is thus trying to force Poland to increase its quota of permits for car transports.
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> UZ introduced a ban on accepting for carriage all shipments sent to Poland in transit through the territory of Ukraine from and to: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova and Estonia. – The introduced blockade is contrary to the international convention of the Agreement on International Rail Freight Transport (SMGS) and bilateral agreements in the field of railway transport – notes a member of the Board of Polish State Railways S.A. Andrzej Olszewski.
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> Due to the Ukrainian blockade of transport, PKP LHS is losing contracts for transport from and to China. In December 2021 alone, the company had contracted 87 trains from China and 6 to China, but none left. – There are no technical obstacles to transit, because trains with coal from Russia to Poland are running – emphasises the president of the board of PKP Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa Zbigniew Tracichleb.
> Blockade not for everyone
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> PKP S.A. emphasizes that initially, apart from the above mentioned “transit” restriction, Ukrainian Railways also introduced a restriction of transit to Slovakia, Czech Republic and Austria, however, after a few days these restrictions were lifted. This means that the restrictions only apply to Poland – Ukraine’s largest European trading partner.
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> UZ initially cited the periodically limited capacity of the Ukrainian rail network and the accumulation of shipments waiting to be transferred from UZ to PKP as the reasons for the transport restrictions imposed on Poland. After talks between the chairman of the PKP S.A. board and UZ, it turned out that such obstacles do not actually exist, and the Polish side was informed that cancelling the introduced restrictions is beyond the competence of the Ukrainian railway administration.
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> – We are surprised by the unilateral introduction of transport restrictions by the Ukrainian side. Stopping transit, including on the New Silk Road, is an unprecedented decision. Poland is Ukraine’s largest trading partner in Europe. We mainly import raw materials, metal products and plant products. A significant part of these cargoes reaches Poland by rail,” Olszewski mentioned.
> Poland the biggest importer
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> Poland is the second trade partner of Ukraine, second only to China in terms of the trade exchange value. Poland’s position as the largest European importer of Ukrainian goods is constantly growing. In the first ten months of 2021, the value of Polish imports increased by 68%, reaching $4.4 billion. This nearly doubles Ukraine’s exports to Russia, and triples exports to Ukraine’s other neighbours such as Hungary and Slovakia.
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> According to Ukrainian statistics, 46% of goods exported by Ukraine, cross the border with Poland by road transport. In 2019, the largest part of Ukrainian exports to Poland was iron ore (14.3%), and a total of 20% other metal products (mainly hot-rolled steel). For these types of goods, rail remains the leading mode of transport due to their weight. Container transport represents an opportunity for diversification of transported loads.
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> Rail accounts for only 18.6% of freight transport in Ukraine, giving way to road transport, whose share has increased by 6% to 75% in the last five years.
> Who will be hurt by the transit ban?
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> Transit is a major opportunity for UZ in particular. Launched in early 2020, transport from China via Ukraine to Poland grew dynamically in its second year of operation. In 2020, 40 trains were launched, and in the first eleven months of 2021 already 124 trains. – The development of international connections on the New Silk Road represents a huge opportunity for Ukraine. It means new cargoes, new jobs, new opportunities for Ukrainian companies, and finally revenues for the state budget and Ukrainian Railways. Taking into account the length of the route in Ukraine, which is about 1,000 kilometres, and the length of the transport in Poland, which is no more than 400 kilometres, it can be said that Ukrainian Railways is the main beneficiary of the transit traffic to Poland. Limitations introduced overnight are incomprehensible also for Chinese and European trading partners and should not be used in commercial cooperation – emphasizes Władysław Szczepkowski, acting President of the Board of PKP Cargo.
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For 20 years of its activity, PKP LHS has invested more than a billion PLN in the modernization of rolling stock and the development of infrastructure. – It is thanks to the development of transport to Sławków that the scale of transport and revenues of Ukrainian Railways is also growing – emphasizes the president of PKP LHS.
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> Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Not sure this is the right time for the Ukraine to be picking battles with other European countries.
I can’t think of a coherent reason. Maybe it’s some kind of weird trade sanction against Russia?? I presume there’s already a similarly dumb sanction by EU against Belarus, and maybe Ukraine is extending it? Puzzling.
>As of 20 January, Ukraine has announced the complete suspension of exports from Ukraine to Poland in wagons shipping wagons belonging to Ukrainian Railways (UZ).
>…
>UZ introduced a ban on accepting for carriage all shipments sent to Poland in transit through the territory of Ukraine from and to: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova and Estonia.
>…
>PKP S.A. emphasizes that initially, apart from the above mentioned “transit” restriction, Ukrainian Railways also introduced a restriction of transit to Slovakia, Czech Republic and Austria, however, after a few days these restrictions were lifted. This means that the restrictions only apply to Poland – Ukraine’s largest European trading partner.
This is kinda baffling especially given how, like the article points out, it hurts Ukraine more than Poland. I’d withold any judgement until the Ukrainian side explains what this is about.
Lmao, to think Belarus is more reliable business partner at the moment
This dispute is about some transport licences for forwarders. Both countries granted equal transport licences for each other. Ukraine used all od their limit, Poland used about half of their limit. Ukraine wants to increase the quota and expand on Polish market, Poland obviously doesn’t want to do that.
Quite idiotic move from Ukraine in current situation but it shows how shameless country it is. They already receive enormous economic support from Poland, in terms of %GDP it is equal to support from the EU to Poland. I hope that they will come to right senses and stop damaging relations with their most important European partner