Ukraine estimates severe damage as border with Poland closes

Ukraine ước tính thiệt hại nghiêm trọng khi biên giới với Ba Lan tắc cứng - 1 — Ukraine said it suffered major damage as thousands of trucks were stuck at the border with Poland (Photo: Reuters).

Ukrainska Pravda quoted statistics from the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine on November 23 saying that Kiev lost more than 437 million USD after more than 2 weeks of Polish truck drivers protesting by blocking a series of border gates on the two countries' border.

According to reports, each day of the border protests is costing Ukrainian transport companies an average of $27,000 per unit per day.

“The situation is really serious,” said Volodymyr Balin, vice president of the International Road Transporters Association of Ukraine. “Each truck stuck at the border loses $380 per day.”

As of early this week, there were 2,900 trucks stuck on the Ukraine-Poland border, according to statistics from the Ukrainian border guard service.

Polish truck drivers have begun protests at the Ukrainian border in protest against the EU granting Ukrainian truck drivers a permit-free route across the bloc's borders to support Kiev's wartime economy .

However, Polish drivers say the move has hurt their business because Ukraine, which is not an EU member, can reduce freight rates due to preferential treatment, which has allowed Ukrainian drivers to win intra-EU transport contracts from Poland.

Poland's truck drivers are ready to lift the border blockade once the EU restores the use of entry permits for Ukrainian drivers, according to the country's Infrastructure Ministry.

On the same day, Taras Kachka, Trade Representative and Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, said that the country wants export routes through Poland to be unblocked before negotiations with Warsaw and the EU to end protests by Polish truck drivers.

Two Ukrainian drivers died while stuck at the border. Official Kachka said the Ukrainian drivers were forced to endure cold weather and unsanitary conditions.

Ukrainian officials say congestion at the border has caused a standstill in trucks carrying aid from the West as Kiev needs the goods ahead of winter.

The disagreement between the two sides shows no signs of abating, as Polish drivers continued to block another border crossing with Ukraine today. They warned that they could remain at the border until February next year.

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