Business urges Ukraine and Poland to speed up the signing of the agreement on a common border

A number of business associations call on the governments of Ukraine and Poland to promote the development of existing and the construction of new joint border checkpoints, as well as to ensure the signing of the Agreement on a common border between the two countries as soon as possible. It is stated in the press release of the European Business Association (EBA).

The full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation significantly affected the supply chains of Ukrainian goods, and road freight transportation through western checkpoints became a key route for international transportation of goods.

However, despite the joint efforts of the Ukrainian and Polish sides to establish the effective passage of commercial vehicles through the western checkpoints, in particular, the systematic mutual development of the border road infrastructure, the promotion of the modernization of the Sheghini-Medyka checkpoint, the introduction of an electronic queue, vehicles are forced to stand still at the border for several days

The business community believes that the current electronic queue mechanism for all participants needs improvement. For example, according to the data of the electronic queue at the beginning of July 2023, the waiting time in the general queue at the checkpoint Yagodin-Dorogusk is approximately 7 days. Waiting leads to a slowdown in the turnover of goods and financial losses for carriers due to transport delays and breach of contracts. According to the approximate calculations of carriers, one day of downtime of a truck costs €300-400.

The business of the two countries called on the governments of Ukraine and Poland to take the following steps:

• to promote the signing of the Agreement on a common border between the two states as soon as possible,
• strengthen the dialogue with the Polish side and relevant EU institutions regarding the development of existing and the construction of new joint border crossing points through intergovernmental cooperation tools and diplomatic mechanisms,
• to contribute to the search for ways to bring customs procedures closer together at Polish-Ukrainian checkpoints and to develop relevant recommendations for changes to the customs legislation of Ukraine and the practices of the customs departments of both countries,
• to speed up the decision-making process by the State Customs Service of Ukraine regarding the modernization of checkpoints on the Polish-Ukrainian border.

These steps will stimulate the reduction of queues at the borders and the duration of inspections, will reduce the costs of business for simple cargo vehicles and will allow to avoid fines for late execution of international contracts. In addition, it will contribute to the acceleration of export-import operations between Ukraine and the EU, which is especially important in the conditions of complicated logistics and infrastructural limitations caused by the war.

The appeal was initiated by the EBA, the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine, the Association of International Motor Carriers, the Ukrainian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs, the All-Polish Union of Road Transport Employers, the Polish Union of Entrepreneurs.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the government and national business have to prepare together a recovery and development plan of Ukraine for the next four years. The domestic business community was invited to submit their proposals regarding the identification of priority sectors of development and programs for their stimulation.