Polish truckers are planning to stage a protest at several border crossings with Ukraine, beginning on November 6. The protest is in response to what the truckers claim is an unregulated influx of Ukrainian hauliers into Poland, which they say is damaging their business. The demonstration coincides with a slowdown in the European economy and relaxed regulations for Ukrainian transport companies introduced by the European Union in 2022, aimed at facilitating the movement of goods to and from Ukraine following the Russian invasion.
According to a protest notification seen by Reuters, the protesters intend to halt the passage of trucks at three border crossings, allowing only one truck per hour to pass through. However, exceptions will be made for shipments of equipment for the Ukrainian army and vehicles carrying livestock. The demands of the protesters include reinstating restrictions on the number of Ukrainian-registered trucks entering Poland and a ban on transport companies with non-European Union capital.
Jacek Sokol, co-organizer of the protest and deputy head of the Committee to Protect Transporters and Transport Employers, stated, “Ukrainian transport companies are entering without restrictions and carrying out transport operations they have no right to perform.” He added that the protest would impact traffic in both directions at the Dorohusk and Hrebenne-Rawa Ruska crossings, as well as outbound traffic through Korczowa.
Before the Russian invasion, Ukrainian transport companies were allowed 160,000-180,000 permits each year for specific shipments requiring entry or transit through Poland, but not for domestic shipments within the country. However, Sokol claims that these companies are now operating freely, leading to an uncontrolled influx into Poland.
Ukraine’s Deputy Infrastructure Minister, Serhiy Derkach, described the blockade as a means to block Ukrainian competitor truckers. He stated that these competitors account for 85% of those who transport goods across the Ukrainian-Polish border. According to the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry, the number of trucks crossing the border with Poland has doubled to an average of 40,000-50,000 per month since the war, with the majority being transported by Ukraine’s own fleet.
Karol Rychlicki, owner of a Polish haulage company and head of a driver association in Siedlce, explained that the protest is a grassroots initiative stemming from Polish transport companies losing markets in eastern countries such as Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, due to Russian counter-sanctions following the invasion. Rychlicki stated, “These are usually small family companies, not some large businesses… In trying to find alternative jobs, they are destabilizing the transport services market by running below costs.”
The truckers had previously submitted their demands to the government in July, but a response was only received in late October, which was deemed unsatisfactory. Rychlicki stated, “These carriers have taken matters into their own hands and are trying to demand justice” through the planned protest.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Marek Strzelecki and Karol BadohalEditing by Alison Williams, Christina Fincher, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and David Evans)
