By KYIV. Dec 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Polish protesters have agreed on an additional possibility for empty trucks from Ukraine to enter Poland through a separate eCherha line at the largest Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing point (BCP), the leader of the protesters and representative of the far-right National Movement, Rafał Mekler said on his X page on Tuesday.
According to him, such solutions show progress but are still far from solving the problem.
“Even though an additional BCP has also been opened in Dołhobyczów (without eCherha), leaving Ukraine still takes six days,” Mekler wrote, illustrating the post with a screenshot from eCherha.
According to the data in the system, the start of movement of this line of empty trucks is scheduled for noon on December 20. There are 178 trucks registered in the queue; each one has 40 minutes to pass.
At the same time, in the usual eCherha at this BCP, the blockade of which on the Polish side was renewed the day before, the waiting time is now 15-16 days with the note “the queue is delayed.”
As reported, the protest of Polish truckers with the blockade of the Yahodyn-Dorohusk, Krakovets-Korczowa, and Rava-Ruska-Hrebenne BCPs began on November 6, and on November 22 the blockade extended to the Shehyni-Medyka BCP by Oszukana Wieś organization, while only BCPs for empty vehicles and BCPs for light vehicles remained unblocked.
The head of the Dorohusk municipality canceled the protest of Polish truckers at 14:00 Kyiv time on December 11 and later he turned down a new petition to start a protest. However, on December 15, 2023, a local Polish court overturned this decision, which allowed the protesters to resume the blockade on December 18.
The organizers of the blockade, demanding the abolition of the agreement between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine on the carriage of freight by road, reported that, according to the official permission of the local authorities, it will last until January 3, 2024, but at some BCPs, there are already permissions to extend it until February. And the new blockade of the Dorohusk-Yahodyn BCP, according to Polish media, was announced until March inclusive. The Ukrainian side hoped for unblocking the border after a new government under the leadership of Donald Tusk came to power in Poland earlier this week, but this did not happen anywhere else except Dorohusk.
According to the State Customs Service, total exports by road from Ukraine in November fell by 26.7%, to 783,000 tonnes, while imports fell by 23.5%, to 967,100 tonnes. In particular, exports through Poland fell by 39.3%, to 282,300 tonnes, while imports fell by 44.6%, to 511,600 tonnes. The largest drop among the four blocked BCPs was recorded at Yahodyn-Dorohusk: exports – by almost 80%, to 32,400 tonnes, imports – by 68%, to 113,700 tonnes.
