Ukraine and Poland held the first meeting of transport industry representatives

The parties discussed possible compromises and agreed on the need for further rounds of consultations

On December 8, 2023, the first meeting of representatives of the transport industries of Ukraine and Poland took place in Warsaw with the mediation of employers from both countries. This was announced by Dmytro Kysylevskyi, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development, on his Facebook page.

«While the Ukrainian government is negotiating with the Polish government and the European Commission and, for obvious reasons, cannot talk about everything, Ukrainian and Polish businesses have joined the cause. There are understandable reasons for this dialog between businessmen. Polish buyers of Ukrainian goods and Ukrainian buyers of Polish goods are losing money because of the blocking of the border by some Polish carriers. Therefore, Ukrainian businesses have turned to their Polish counterparts with an initiative to stop losing money and find a way to unblock the border,» he noted.

During the meeting, the parties discussed possible compromises and agreed on the need for further rounds of consultations, at which it is planned to work out joint solutions for unblocking the borders.

«This is a very important precedent when the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian business, each in their own spheres, jointly defend Ukrainian interests on the external circuit. And while the negotiations are ongoing, I urge all Ukrainian companies that have cooperation with Poland to contact their counterparties and draw their attention to the fact that they are losing money from business with you because some Polish carriers are solving their issues at the border,» added Dmytro Kysylevskyi.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the All-Polish Union of Road Transport Employers (OZPTD), the National Association of International Road Carriers and Freight Forwarders, the West Pomeranian Association of Road Carriers, and Transport and Logistics Poland – TLP.

Ukraine was represented by representatives of the European Integration Committee of the Federation of Employers, the Association of International Road Carriers, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Association of Road Carriers of Ukraine of Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Volyn, Rivne, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, and the NGO International Road Carriers.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the blockade of border crossings with Poland threatens the entire Ukrainian economy. A prolonged blockade of the border will increase the cost of logistics and reduce the competitiveness of domestic exports. At the same time, Ukraine can only make limited compromises to meet the strikers’ demands.

According to Yulia Klymenko, first deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Transport and Infrastructure, downtime of one truck is estimated at about €300 per day. There are also indirect losses for business – the impossibility of predicting the terms of delivery of goods under signed contracts.

Federation of Employers of Ukraine reported, that as of November 22, 2023, the Ukrainian economy suffered more than €400 million in losses from the protest of Polish carriers. If we count indirect losses, they are obviously measured in billions of euros.