Several dozen owners of transport companies on Monday blocked three major Polish border crossings with Ukraine in protest at what they say is unfair competition from the neighbouring country’s businesses.
Trucks lined up at the border checkpoint in Dorohusk, with almost all cargo traffic blocked by protesters who blamed the liberalisation of European Union rules for the slump in their revenues.
“We want the rules of fair competition to be restored,” Rafal Mekler, a co-organiser of the protest, told AFP in Dorohusk.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU waived a system of permits for Ukrainian transport companies to enter the bloc.
According to Polish companies, the move triggered an influx of Ukrainian competitors into the sector, plunging their profits.
“Their costs of servicing a truck, hiring a driver or merely of opening a business or paying social insurance are much lower,” Marek Oklinski, a transport company owner, told AFP in Dorohusk.
“They drive the prices down and take the cargo that we used to carry,” Oklinski added.
The protesters staged similar blockages at crossings in Hrebenne and Korczowa, pledging to let passenger traffic as well as transport with humanitarian or military aid pass through.
Poland’s infrastructure ministry said Warsaw could not meet the demands of the protesting companies by reinstating the system of permits to the Ukrainian carriers, citing EU rules.
“The agreement was reached by the EU… therefore, in practical terms, Poland cannot reintroduce the permits system with Ukraine until the aforementioned deal expires,” the ministry said in a statement sent to AFP, calling on the protesters to end the blockages.
>”We want the rules of **fair competition to be restored**,” Rafal Mekler, a co-organiser of the protest, told AFP in Dorohusk.
>
>”**Their costs** of servicing a truck, hiring a driver or merely of opening a business or paying social insurance are **much lower**,”
World is so unfair and full of injustices…
ZMPD – (Polish) Union of International Road Hauliers posted following news describing the issue:
(Note, both Ministry of Infrastructure and ZMPD are merely passing the info, not organizing the protests)
> Ladies and Gentlemen, the following is a communication from the Ministry of Infrastructure on the strike that will begin on 6 November 2023 at 12 noon in front of the border crossings in Dorohusk and Hrebenne.
> The Department of Road Transport of the Ministry of Infrastructure provides information on the planned organisation of protests near the state border crossings of Poland and Ukraine.
> The protest in front of the border crossing in Dorohusk is scheduled to start on 6 November 2023 at 12.00, and 50-100 people are expected to participate in the protest action using 40 vehicles without trailers. The protest will last until 3 December 2023. According to the information provided by the organisers of the protest, the passage of vehicles transporting live animals, perishable goods, dangerous goods and humanitarian aid will not be blocked. On the direction of entry and exit from Poland, other vehicles will be allowed to pass at a frequency of one vehicle per hour. Vehicles at the entrance to Poland with an electronic seal of the National Revenue Administration will also not be allowed through.
> The protest in front of the border crossing in Hrebenne is scheduled to start on 6 November 2023 at 12.00 p.m. The participation of 30-50 people and 10 trucks without trailers is expected. The protest will last until 3 January 2024 at 10.00 a.m. According to information provided by the Voivodship Office in Lublin, the organisers of the protest declared that the blockade will not cover vehicles transporting fuel, humanitarian aid, perishable food, military and privileged vehicles, passenger cars and vehicles entering Poland from Ukraine.
> According to unofficial information, the protest may also spread to other border crossings that serve heavy vehicle traffic on the border between the Republic of Poland and Ukraine (Korczowa and Medyka border crossings). The Ministry of Infrastructure has only informal information on this matter.
> The protesters are demanding:
> reinstatement of permits in relations with Ukraine;
> stricter rules for transport within the ECMT;
> a ban on the registration of companies in Poland if their finances and accounting are outside the EU;
> access to the Ukrainian “Shliah” system;
> separate queues for vehicles from the EU within the e-Cherta system;
> separate queues for empty vehicles.
Some of the issues as described by Polish trucking site:
> All indications are that Ukrainian queues and checks have somehow got out of hand. Perhaps this is related to the fact that direct supervision of the queues has been taken over by Ukrtransbezpieka, the local equivalent of ITD. In doing so, the officers have the possibility to introduce additional vehicles into the queue, which already raises natural suspicions. The incident in recent weeks, when a considerable number of lorries unexpectedly lost their places in the queues due to “erroneous data”, has also made headlines. At the time, the Polish Consulate in Ukraine was to intervene in the case. In addition, the Ukrainian system recently received an update, which particularly hit foreign hauliers. Well, the possibility to change the data of drivers and vehicles waiting in the queue without a load was taken away.
> Mekler stresses that out of one million transports, half should be done by Polish hauliers and pay taxes here. Meanwhile, Polish cars stand in an electronic queue in Ukraine, whose system is designed to give facilities to companies there. – **Ours have to wait 12 days to leave Ukraine. To legally enter a car in the electronic queue I have to drive it into Ukraine. Polish hauliers go to Lviv, and the furthest is Kiev. This takes 2 days and they stand for 10 days. A Ukrainian company, on the other hand, can book a place a few days in advance before it starts transport. Once registered, they can change the registration numbers of the cars in the system, while our companies do not have this possibility.** If, despite this, they have to wait a day or two, they leave the car at the base, the driver takes a break and everything is fine. That’s no way to work,” Borkowski says.
> Polish carriers are not allowed to employ Ukrainians on this route. – I will not get an entry and exit permit for this man from Ukraine, while Ukrainian companies have access to the Szlak programme and in which they register trips,” explains Borkowski.
And this news are always one sided in a worth way possible.
Is this blockade because Polish truckers got poor treatment in Ukraine? Is it because Ukraine trackers got better conditions than Polish?
Or are they getting same opportunities, but Ua truckers ask less? What are those “permits” Polish trackers demand for Ua trackers, are they having those too, or are they demanding those “permits” only for EU aliens?
The blockade is apparently to last until January.
thanks brothers, I hope when war will came for you someone will do that for you too
Maybe our workers ask for less because we’re a fucking poor country in the middle of a war.
I love Poland and I hate seeing stuff like this. But seeing this as a Ukrainian is extremely depressing.
Authoritarianism and rage rules their mind.
Have problem with Ukrainian produce in eu? Take the issue to eu. Its not Ukraine who suddenly decided to barge in and sell their stuff for half the price.
And polish government knows that, yet they still choose to shit on their country’s friends than to face their party’s popularity issues. These things continue – Poland speeds past hungary in european asshole championship.
My love for Poland is strong, but i tolerate precisely 0 bullshit from authoritarian governments. Get up and get out already.
My GF is Polish and she hates Ukraine
This is what a confederation looks like as compared to a federation.
[removed]
I hope we wont be inundated with “Polish trucker union, Putin’s fifth column” posts until January.
15 comments
Several dozen owners of transport companies on Monday blocked three major Polish border crossings with Ukraine in protest at what they say is unfair competition from the neighbouring country’s businesses.
Trucks lined up at the border checkpoint in Dorohusk, with almost all cargo traffic blocked by protesters who blamed the liberalisation of European Union rules for the slump in their revenues.
“We want the rules of fair competition to be restored,” Rafal Mekler, a co-organiser of the protest, told AFP in Dorohusk.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU waived a system of permits for Ukrainian transport companies to enter the bloc.
According to Polish companies, the move triggered an influx of Ukrainian competitors into the sector, plunging their profits.
“Their costs of servicing a truck, hiring a driver or merely of opening a business or paying social insurance are much lower,” Marek Oklinski, a transport company owner, told AFP in Dorohusk.
“They drive the prices down and take the cargo that we used to carry,” Oklinski added.
The protesters staged similar blockages at crossings in Hrebenne and Korczowa, pledging to let passenger traffic as well as transport with humanitarian or military aid pass through.
Poland’s infrastructure ministry said Warsaw could not meet the demands of the protesting companies by reinstating the system of permits to the Ukrainian carriers, citing EU rules.
“The agreement was reached by the EU… therefore, in practical terms, Poland cannot reintroduce the permits system with Ukraine until the aforementioned deal expires,” the ministry said in a statement sent to AFP, calling on the protesters to end the blockages.
>”We want the rules of **fair competition to be restored**,” Rafal Mekler, a co-organiser of the protest, told AFP in Dorohusk.
>
>”**Their costs** of servicing a truck, hiring a driver or merely of opening a business or paying social insurance are **much lower**,”
World is so unfair and full of injustices…
ZMPD – (Polish) Union of International Road Hauliers posted following news describing the issue:
(Note, both Ministry of Infrastructure and ZMPD are merely passing the info, not organizing the protests)
https://zmpd.zmpd.pl/aktualnosc.php?akt_id=9402
> Ladies and Gentlemen, the following is a communication from the Ministry of Infrastructure on the strike that will begin on 6 November 2023 at 12 noon in front of the border crossings in Dorohusk and Hrebenne.
> The Department of Road Transport of the Ministry of Infrastructure provides information on the planned organisation of protests near the state border crossings of Poland and Ukraine.
> The protest in front of the border crossing in Dorohusk is scheduled to start on 6 November 2023 at 12.00, and 50-100 people are expected to participate in the protest action using 40 vehicles without trailers. The protest will last until 3 December 2023. According to the information provided by the organisers of the protest, the passage of vehicles transporting live animals, perishable goods, dangerous goods and humanitarian aid will not be blocked. On the direction of entry and exit from Poland, other vehicles will be allowed to pass at a frequency of one vehicle per hour. Vehicles at the entrance to Poland with an electronic seal of the National Revenue Administration will also not be allowed through.
> The protest in front of the border crossing in Hrebenne is scheduled to start on 6 November 2023 at 12.00 p.m. The participation of 30-50 people and 10 trucks without trailers is expected. The protest will last until 3 January 2024 at 10.00 a.m. According to information provided by the Voivodship Office in Lublin, the organisers of the protest declared that the blockade will not cover vehicles transporting fuel, humanitarian aid, perishable food, military and privileged vehicles, passenger cars and vehicles entering Poland from Ukraine.
> According to unofficial information, the protest may also spread to other border crossings that serve heavy vehicle traffic on the border between the Republic of Poland and Ukraine (Korczowa and Medyka border crossings). The Ministry of Infrastructure has only informal information on this matter.
> The protesters are demanding:
> reinstatement of permits in relations with Ukraine;
> stricter rules for transport within the ECMT;
> a ban on the registration of companies in Poland if their finances and accounting are outside the EU;
> access to the Ukrainian “Shliah” system;
> separate queues for vehicles from the EU within the e-Cherta system;
> separate queues for empty vehicles.
Some of the issues as described by Polish trucking site:
https://40ton.net/ciezarowki-czekaja-po-15-dni-w-kolejce-do-granicy-dramat-na-powrotach-z-ukrainy/
> All indications are that Ukrainian queues and checks have somehow got out of hand. Perhaps this is related to the fact that direct supervision of the queues has been taken over by Ukrtransbezpieka, the local equivalent of ITD. In doing so, the officers have the possibility to introduce additional vehicles into the queue, which already raises natural suspicions. The incident in recent weeks, when a considerable number of lorries unexpectedly lost their places in the queues due to “erroneous data”, has also made headlines. At the time, the Polish Consulate in Ukraine was to intervene in the case. In addition, the Ukrainian system recently received an update, which particularly hit foreign hauliers. Well, the possibility to change the data of drivers and vehicles waiting in the queue without a load was taken away.
Oh how the tables turned…
Another Polish source describing the issues:
https://logistyka.rp.pl/drogowy/art39352551-przewoznicy-zablokuja-terminale-samochodowe-z-ukraina
> Mekler stresses that out of one million transports, half should be done by Polish hauliers and pay taxes here. Meanwhile, Polish cars stand in an electronic queue in Ukraine, whose system is designed to give facilities to companies there. – **Ours have to wait 12 days to leave Ukraine. To legally enter a car in the electronic queue I have to drive it into Ukraine. Polish hauliers go to Lviv, and the furthest is Kiev. This takes 2 days and they stand for 10 days. A Ukrainian company, on the other hand, can book a place a few days in advance before it starts transport. Once registered, they can change the registration numbers of the cars in the system, while our companies do not have this possibility.** If, despite this, they have to wait a day or two, they leave the car at the base, the driver takes a break and everything is fine. That’s no way to work,” Borkowski says.
> Polish carriers are not allowed to employ Ukrainians on this route. – I will not get an entry and exit permit for this man from Ukraine, while Ukrainian companies have access to the Szlak programme and in which they register trips,” explains Borkowski.
And this news are always one sided in a worth way possible.
Is this blockade because Polish truckers got poor treatment in Ukraine? Is it because Ukraine trackers got better conditions than Polish?
Or are they getting same opportunities, but Ua truckers ask less? What are those “permits” Polish trackers demand for Ua trackers, are they having those too, or are they demanding those “permits” only for EU aliens?
The blockade is apparently to last until January.
thanks brothers, I hope when war will came for you someone will do that for you too
Maybe our workers ask for less because we’re a fucking poor country in the middle of a war.
I love Poland and I hate seeing stuff like this. But seeing this as a Ukrainian is extremely depressing.
Authoritarianism and rage rules their mind.
Have problem with Ukrainian produce in eu? Take the issue to eu. Its not Ukraine who suddenly decided to barge in and sell their stuff for half the price.
And polish government knows that, yet they still choose to shit on their country’s friends than to face their party’s popularity issues. These things continue – Poland speeds past hungary in european asshole championship.
My love for Poland is strong, but i tolerate precisely 0 bullshit from authoritarian governments. Get up and get out already.
My GF is Polish and she hates Ukraine
This is what a confederation looks like as compared to a federation.
[removed]
I hope we wont be inundated with “Polish trucker union, Putin’s fifth column” posts until January.
European solidarity on display.