Trucks waiting 10 days to cross Polish-Ukrainian border
Trucks trying to get into Ukraine are now waiting up to 10 days at some border crossings owing to protests by Polish road hauliers.
The hauliers have been blocking the Polish-Ukrainian border since early November, only letting through a few lorries every hour while allowing cars, coaches and vehicles carrying humanitarian aid to pass unhindered.
The Chelm police reported that around 520 trucks were waiting in a 16 kilometre queue at the Dorohusk crossing, delaying the clearance time to five days.
Meanwhile, at the Hrebenne crossing, drivers are stuck in a 70 kilometre queue of 870 trucks, according to Malgorzata Pawlowska from the Tomaszow Lubelski police. On Monday, the waiting time to cross the frontier reached 10 days.
On the state roads leading to both crossings, the police have created special buffer zones to regulate the traffic. The officers said it was not necessary to undertake any security measures so far.
The Ukrainian Border Guard said on Monday that the Uhryniv-Dolhobyczow crossing had been opened to empty trucks leaving Ukraine as the first step in a series measures aimed at unblocking the border. The crossing usually functions only for passenger cars and buses.
The drivers, who started their protest on November 6, are demanding the reintroduction of commercial permits for Ukrainian companies carrying goods apart from humanitarian aid and military equipment, as well as the suspension of operating permits for Ukrainian haulage firms set up after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. They complain their business has been undercut by Ukrainian firms, which pay much less to their truckers and thus have lower operating costs but are competing with Polish firms. (PAP)
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