On the Polish side, trucks blocked three border crossings on the border with Ukraine
They are protesting, they say, against unfair competition from Ukrainian firms
Several dozen owners of transport companies on Monday blocked three major border crossings between Poland and Ukraine with trucks to protest what they say is unfair competition from Ukrainian firms.
At the border crossing in Dorohusk, almost all cargo traffic was blocked by protesters who complain of falling revenues due to the liberalization of EU rules.
"We want the rules of fair competition to be restored," Rafal Meckler, one of the organizers of the protest, told AFP.
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU abandoned the system under which Ukrainian transportation companies had to obtain special permits to enter EU countries.
According to the protesters, this move provoked an influx of Ukrainian companies, increased competition, and reduced the profits of the carriers.
"Their costs of maintaining a truck, hiring a driver or just starting a business or paying social security are much lower," Marek Oklinski, owner of a transport company, told AFP.
"They are lowering their prices and taking away the cargo we used to carry," he added.
Protesters have staged similar actions at checkpoints in Hrebenne and Korchova. They promise to let vehicles with passengers, as well as humanitarian or military aid, through.
Poland's Infrastructure Ministry said that Warsaw could not meet the demands of the protesting companies by restoring the permit system for Ukrainian carriers, citing EU rules.
"The agreement was reached by the EU [...] so Poland cannot reintroduce the permit system with Ukraine until the expiration of the above agreement," the ministry said in a statement calling on the protesters to stop the action.
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