Polish carriers have postponed the start date of the blockade of freight traffic at three checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border from November 3 to November 6, Ihor Overko, head of the International Transport Association of Ukraine, said on Facebook on Thursday, citing one of the protest organizers.
“Polish carriers have announced that they are postponing the start of the blockade of freight traffic heading towards the three checkpoints from November 3 to November 6. This was announced by the co-chairman of the blockade, the organizer of the protest at the Krakowiec-Korczowa checkpoint, Tomasz Borkowski,” the statement reads.
The blockade will begin at 13:00 Kyiv time on November 6. The organizers of the protest have received official permission from local authorities to hold it until January 3, 2024, the statement said.
The blockade of freight transport will be organized in the direction of three checkpoints: “Yagodyn-Dorogousk, Krakovets-Korchova, and Rava-Ruska-Hrebenne.
One of the main demands of the protest organizers is to return to the practice of issuing permits for Ukrainian freight carriers and reduce their number to the pre-war level, when up to 200,000 permits were issued per year. In addition, the carriers want empty Polish trucks returning from Ukraine to Poland to be able to cross the border without an e-queue and without waiting 10-12 days. The carriers also demand to tighten the rules of transportation under the ECMT (certificate of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport).
Earlier it was reported that Polish carriers with the participation of 200 people and in the presence of 100 tractors planned to hold a one-day strike at the largest Polish border checkpoint “Yagodyn-Dorogousk” on November 3.
The Ministry of Reconstruction confirmed that it had received reports of a blockade of checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border, and then initiated a meeting with officials from Poland and the European Commission (EC) to ensure stable border operations.
In a commentary to Interfax-Ukraine, Deputy Minister Serhiy Derkach said that most of the demands of Polish carriers threatening to block the border are unrealizable.
