By KYIV. Nov 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The number of freight transport leaving Ukraine since the beginning of the blockade by Polish haulers of three border crossing points on the Ukrainian-Polish border on November 6 has decreased by 20-25%, Deputy Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Yuriy Vaskov said at the Annual General Membership Meeting of the European Business Association (EBA).
“In numbers, I will say that since these protests, the total number of freight transport that leaves has fallen by about 20-25%. And now, there is such a critical situation at Rava Ruska and Yahodyn, at other border crossing points, including Krakovets. There, with the help of local authorities, not central, but local, it works,” Vaskov said.
According to him, the next stage of negotiations on the issue of the blockade and the conditions for its lifting are taking place at the border on November 15 with the participation of Director General at the European Commissioner’s Directorate-General Mobility and Transport (DG Move) Magda Kopczynska and Deputy Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Serhiy Derkach.
“Of course, our task is to ensure that it [the blockade issue] is resolved before mid-December, because every day of downtime has negative consequences for our entrepreneurs, for our economy,” Vaskov said.
The main demand of the organizers of the blockade on the Ukrainian-Polish border is to return to the issuance of permits for cargo transportation in the European Union for Ukrainian haulers, to prohibit the registration of transport companies with Ukrainian capital in Poland, and also to cancel licenses already issued to transport companies in Poland, Vaskov said.
“All the demands are not for us. We, of course, cannot agree on them and that is why we invited the head of DG Move, Magda Kopczynska,” the deputy minister said.
Asked about a possible blockade of border crossing points by Slovakia and Hungary, where local haulers are also unhappy with the situation, he said that he “potentially heard that our haulers are already planning to join the strike on the territory of Ukraine, against their haulers.”
