Business news from Ukraine

Truck queues at Ukraine-EU border reach 40 km – profile associations

Associations uniting motor carriers of Lithuania and seven other European Union (EU) countries are calling for the problem of queues of trucks at the Ukraine-EU border to be solved, the Lithuanian national association of motor carriers Linava has said.
The association estimates that at present there is a queue of over 40 kilometers on the Ukrainian side at one of the border crossings between Romania and Ukraine, over 25 kilometers – on the Ukrainian-Hungarian border, and about 15 kilometers – on the Ukrainian-Slovak border.
Linava, together with the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and its members, has approached the European Commission (EC) with a proposal to introduce priority border crossing lines for International Road Transport (TIR), which would increase the number of trucks crossing the border into Ukraine by 2 to 3 times.
According to Linava Secretary General Zenon Buivydas, waiting for trucks at the Ukrainian border can take up to several days, which, he says, creates a number of problems for trucking firms and truckers alike.
The appeal to the EC and its President was signed by IRU President Radu Dinescu and Secretary General Umberto de Pretto, as well as Buividas and representatives of carriers from Moldova, Ukraine, Serbia, Slovakia, Latvia, Hungary, Turkey, Romania and Poland.

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GERMAN TRUCK MANUFACTURER MAN SHUT DOWN 2 FACTORIES IN EUROPE DUE TO LACK OF COMPONENTS FROM UKRAINE

The German truck and bus manufacturer MAN was forced to send about 11,000 employees on unpaid leave due to the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.
The Volkswagen Group-owned company said on Wednesday that its facilities in Munich and Krakow, Poland, have been halted since March 14 due to the cessation of supplies of electrical wires produced at Ukrainian factories. At three other MAN sites, production volumes have been reduced, including at the engine plant in Nuremberg.
“Suppliers of electrical wiring for trucks cannot produce it at Ukrainian enterprises or can produce it in very limited quantities,” MAN said in a statement. “As a result, we could lose production for several weeks, which will sharply reduce output figures in the second quarter.”
The company said it has already started looking for additional sources of truck wiring harnesses in other countries.
“However, this will take several months,” said Alexander Vlaskamp, chief executive officer of MAN.
The company notes that its employees will be transferred to a reduced working hours scheme, in which MAN compensates them for 80% of lost income from both its own and state funds.
The problems of Ukrainian suppliers previously led to disruptions in the work of Volkswagen and BMW enterprises.
Most of the Ukrainian enterprises for the production of electrical wiring, located in the western part of the country, have resumed work, the Financial Times newspaper writes, citing representatives of several enterprises.
Thus, the German Leoni, which owns two factories in the west of Ukraine, has already reported that both of its enterprises have returned to work.
Other companies, including Aptiv and Kromberg & Schubert, have resumed production, FT sources say.

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TRUCK DRIVERS NOT SUBJECT TO OBSERVATION

The requirement for mandatory observation does not apply to drivers and maintenance personnel of freight vehicles, if there is no reason to believe that they had contact persons infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“The requirement for compulsory observation does not apply to drivers and maintenance personnel of freight vehicles, crew members of aircraft, sea, river vessels, members of train and locomotive crews, if there is no reason to believe that they were in contact with a person with COVID-19 infection,” Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Krykliy wrote on his Telegram channel.
Earlier, the Ministry of Infrastructure said that, in accordance with the amendments to Ukrainian Chief State Sanitary Doctor’s resolution No. 2 dated March 21, 2020 on preventing the further cases of COVID-19 infection in Ukraine approved by the Health Ministry on March 24, 2020, drivers and maintenance personnel of freight vehicles, crew members of aircraft, sea and river vessels, as well as members of train and locomotive crews crossing the state border, do not sign informed consent to self-isolation.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine introduced a nationwide emergency situation regime for 30 days until April 24, 2020.

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BOGDAN CORPORATION ISSUES FIRST ELECTRIC TRUCK FOR DENMARK’S BANKE ELECTROMOTIV

The Bogdan Corporation has issued its first electric truck ERCV27 for loading solid household waste under a contract with Denmark’s Banke Electromotiv.
The truck was presented on November 22 at the Bogdan Motors automobile plant in Lutsk with the participation of Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan.
“We are gradually refuting the widespread opinion that Ukraine is exclusively agrarian. The presented electric transport is fully designed and created in Ukraine. It will be “Made in Ukraine” in the European Union,” the ministry’s press service reported on its website, citing Omelyan as saying.
The press service of the Bogdan Corporation said that the mass production of cars will begin after their certification in Denmark.
As reported, the agreement signed between the Bogdan Motors plant in Lutsk and Banke Electromotiv for the designing and production of garbage collection trucks signed in the spring of this year involves the manufacture of 15 trucks. In general, Banke Electromotive requires about 200 trucks a year.
“As long as European companies order ecofriendly special vehicles for the removal of household waste from a Ukrainian manufacturer, our state is lagging behind in this matter. Although the Bogdan’s electric truck with its characteristics is ahead, and the company is ready to produce it for Ukrainian cities,” the corporation’s press service said.
In turn, according to the press service of the Infrastructure Ministry, Omelyan pointed out the importance of creating conditions for the development of electric transport in Ukraine as soon as possible.
“We have visited a workshop that is ready for operation, we just need to start it. To do this, we need to create conditions for restoring the automotive industry in Ukraine. In particular, we initiated an electric bus at the Boryspil airport, and I hope it will be Ukrainian electric bus,” the press service said, quoting Omelyan.

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