By KYIV. Nov 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Federation of Employers of Ukraine and the Association of Road Carriers sent official appeals to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a request to hold a meeting with President of Poland Andrzej Duda to resolve the problem of blocking the border by Polish carriers, the Federation reported on Facebook on Thursday evening.
“The consequences of blocking the borders are so significant that they require the personal intervention of top officials of states and the interaction of authorities at all levels,” the signatories believe.
According to the report, an official appeal was also sent to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
“The situation with the blocking by one of the Polish associations of carriers of checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish section of the state border since November 6 has extremely dangerous consequences for the economy and national security of Ukraine. Drivers without basic assistance from the Red Cross and other organizations, two deaths and a threat to transportation, on which the national security of Ukraine directly depends,” the message says.
According to preliminary calculations of the signatories of the appeal, the estimated direct losses to the Ukrainian economy from blocking a number of checkpoints already exceed EUR 400 million, and taking into account indirect losses (fines and penalties against Ukrainian exporters for failure to contractual obligations, refusal to conclude contracts with Ukrainian counterparties for the New Year and etc.), they are obviously measured in billions of euros.
“The demands of Polish strikers are impudent and violate Poland’s obligations under international treaties, and sometimes constitute direct interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine,” the associations believe.
The message recalls that such an unprecedented blocking became an example for the Associations of International Road Carriers of Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, which sent a joint statement to Ursula von der Leyen, which initiated an urgent discussion on the issue of returning permits for Ukrainian transportation.
According to the message, in their appeal to Zelenskyy, they also ask to make a number of proposals to the government of Ukraine, in particular, the State Border Guard Service and the State Customs Service to hold meetings with Polish border agencies to prevent any discriminatory actions against Ukrainian carriers and ensure law and order in front of checkpoints.
In addition, these services are requested to take the necessary measures to hold meetings between customs and border services in order to ensure the rhythm of clearance operations; notify international organizations and authorized EU bodies about the impossibility of performing basic tasks and functions at checkpoints.
Among the proposals for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to contact the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations to provide food, warm clothes and medical support to blocked drivers; together with the Ministry of Infrastructure, urgently hold consultations with the European Commission on preventing further discrimination against Ukrainian carriers and amending the Agreement between Ukraine and the EU on road freight transport.
In addition, it is proposed, together with the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Information Policy, to hold appropriate information events to clarify the situation in the EU member states in order to relieve tension in society and, in particular, in the business environment.
