Polish truckers have prolonged their blockade alongside the border with Ukraine to protest towards competitors from Ukrainian drivers, a few of whom have been caught for 17 days in freezing temperatures, in an additional blow to Kyiv’s commerce and struggle efforts towards Russia.
Backed by native Polish farmers and their tractors, lorry drivers on Thursday blocked the important thing border crossing at Medyka, increasing a protest that began at three different crossings on November 6.
Two Ukrainian truckers ready to cross have since died, in response to officers and labour unions in Kyiv, as queues stretching so far as 25 kilometres fashioned on each side of the border at a number of crossings.
Greater than 1,000 Ukrainian vehicles have been already queueing at Medyka early on Thursday, native media reported. Solely passenger autos and vehicles carrying navy gear or humanitarian assist have been allowed to cross unobstructed. Protesters have warned that their blockade might be maintained till January.
Early final yr Medyka was one of many most important gateways for refugees fleeing Ukraine to Poland and different components of the EU. The border crossing can also be near the south-eastern Polish metropolis of Rzeszów, which turned an enormous transit hub for navy and humanitarian assist to Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion.
![Map showing the border crossing between Poland and Ukraine at Medyka](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2F93edfac0-8a39-11ee-ae4a-c99e309360b2-standard.png?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1)
Ukrainian officers criticised the protest’s escalation. Taras Kachka, deputy financial system minister for commerce, stated the dispute needs to be solved “on the negotiating desk . . . however not on the street through the winter the place injury is brought about not solely to the economies however to the well being and lifetime of drivers caught there”.
“There may be snow and freezing temperatures on the roads, with individuals caught with out entry to correct sanitary situations,” Kachka stated on Ukrainian tv on Thursday.
Following the casualties, Ukraine’s embassy in Warsaw issued a recent demand to Polish authorities to interrupt up the protest. “This can be very necessary to avoid wasting lives, cease the blocking of motor autos and provides drivers the chance to return dwelling with out hindrance,” the embassy stated in a be aware.
Ukraine’s affiliation of street cargo truckers warned €400mn in income has been misplaced due to the blockade. The scenario may worsen provided that truckers in neighbouring Slovakia have additionally briefly blocked border crossings with Ukraine, it stated.
“The scenario is similar each in Poland and Slovakia — what they’re doing is violating the European Union treaty [that prohibits] blocking the checkpoints,” stated Volodymyr Balin, vice-president of Ukraine’s truckers affiliation.
On Wednesday, lengthy queues fashioned on the most important Hungarian border crossing with Ukraine, as drivers sought to bypass Poland and Slovakia.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland has referred to as the protest “a painful stab in Ukraine’s again” and the federal government in Warsaw has urged the drivers to carry their blockade.
However the outgoing authorities led by the rightwing Legislation and Justice (PiS) social gathering, which has stalled the comeback to energy of Donald Tusk as prime minister, is avoiding a full-on confrontation with truckers who’re the logistical cornerstone of the Polish financial system. Tusk is anticipated to return to workplace after main a coalition of events to victory in parliamentary elections in October.
The Polish truckers have written to the European Fee to demand that the EU restore transport quotas for Ukrainian vehicles that have been lifted final yr to assist Kyiv’s struggle towards Russia. The fee has stated this was a bilateral concern.
“It’s good that the European Union determined to open the border in a essential struggle scenario, however this could not final and permit Ukrainian carriers to ascertain themselves on our market,” Jan Buczek, president of the Polish affiliation of worldwide street carriers, instructed the Monetary Occasions.
Poland has the EU’s largest truck fleet and its drivers’ complaints are additionally seen as a harbinger of the powerful commerce negotiations awaiting Ukraine earlier than it might probably be a part of the EU.
Ukraine’s exports to the EU are transported more and more by street since Russia’s full-scale invasion final yr. Street transport accounted for 43 per cent of the general worth of Ukrainian exports to the EU, in response to Natalia Shpygotska, deputy head of analysis at Kyiv-based funding financial institution Dragon Capital.
The Polish blockade hurts significantly Ukrainian exports of wooden and furnishings, automotive components and vegetable oils. It is usually endangering the one-quarter of imported gasoline provides that Ukraine transports by street by way of Poland, Shpygotska added.
Tymofiy Mylovanov, president of the Kyiv Faculty of Economics and an adviser to Ukraine’s authorities, stated some Ukrainian companies had already been pushed into disaster by the Polish blockade, citing the instance of a constructing supplies producer that misplaced 60 per cent of its export enterprise because of this.
The blockade additionally deepens a commerce dispute between Warsaw and Kyiv after imports of Ukrainian grain have been banned to guard Polish farmers, regardless of that measure violating the EU’s widespread commerce coverage.
Ukraine’s Black Sea ports within the Odesa area proceed to operate regardless of Russian assaults, making Poland much less necessary for Ukrainian grain exports, say analysts.
Chicago wheat futures climbed 1 per cent to a close to two-week excessive on Wednesday in response to the most recent Russian attacks on Odesa relatively than the near-closure of the Polish border, stated Andrey Sizov, managing director of Black Sea grain consultancy SovEcon.
Extra reporting by Andy Bounds in Brussels