The Federation of Employers of Ukraine believes that as of November 22, the Ukrainian economy has lost more than €400 million from the Polish trucker protests.
Ukraine suffers losses
As of November 22, Ukraine's economy lost more than €400 million due to the protests of Polish truckers at the border.
Volodymyr Balin, vice president of the Association of International Truckers, stated this in the "Media Center Ukraine — Ukrinform" broadcast.
The situation is really critical. I am not ready to say how other industries are suffering, although according to the estimate of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, our economy has already lost more than 400 million euros. We record the losses of our carriers based on the calculation of the lost income — 350 euros for a delay per day, Balin noted.
According to Balin, it is the blockade by the Polish protesters that threatens the life and health of Ukrainian carriers. The financial losses are assessed with the legal assistance of lawyers to later file claims for damages — either to the strikers or the local councils that allowed the strike.
In addition, the Association of International Truckers vice president confirmed that on November 23, farmers will join the trucker protests in Poland.
Polish trucker protests: what is known
On November 6, around 2:00 p.m. Ukrainian time, Polish truckers began to block the movement of trucks at the checkpoints "Krakivets-Korchova", "Yagodin-Dorogusk" and "Rava-Ruska-Grebenne".
Protesters said they would not block traffic for buses, cars, trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Ukraine, animals, or perishable goods.
However, on November 20, it was reported that the Poles, despite their promises, are not allowing humanitarian aid and fuel tanks into Ukraine.
Concerning the International Transport Association of Ukraine, the association "Ukravtoprom" noted that the reason for the strikes is excessive competition after the liberalization of international transportation between Ukraine and EU countries.
The head of "Ukrtransbezpeka" Yevgen Zborovskyy, said the strikers demanded the creation of a separate queue for cars with EU license plates and to limit the number of permits for freight transportation to 180,000 from each side — as was the case before a full-scale war.
On November 21, Ukrainian carriers rallied at the "Krakivets—Korchova" checkpoint in response to Polish colleagues blocking trucks crossing the border from Poland to Ukraine.
Today is a precautionary action — a response to the blocking of key highways by Polish protesters. Carriers and truck drivers joined the rally. We are outraged by the actions of our Polish colleagues, because in this difficult time, instead of supporting Ukraine, they are creating obstacles, head of the NGO "International Automobile Transporters of Ukraine" Volodymyr Mykhalevich said.
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