After enduring a blockade by Polish truckers for over a month at the Poland-Ukraine border, Ukraine’s Dorohusk-Yahodyn checkpoint has finally resumed stable truck traffic. Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov confirmed that truck movement had been restored from 2:00 pm on 11 December, marking a significant easing in cross-border transportation tensions.
The blockade’s end came as a result of relentless efforts by the Ministry’s team and the Embassy, who engaged in numerous meetings and negotiations at various levels.
“This has been a challenging task, but it is not yet complete. The border must be fully unblocked, and further blockades must be prevented,” Kubrakov stated.
The blockade initiated on 6 November by Polish carriers affected the movement of Ukrainian trucks at three major border checkpoints: Korczova – Krakivets, Grebenne – Rava-Ruska, and Dorohusk – Yahodyn.
As of the morning of 6 December, approximately 2,950 trucks have been queued at the Poland-Ukraine border due to an ongoing blockade by Polish truckers.
On 7 December, Ukraine’s state railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, started transporting 23 trucks stuck at the Polish border.
- On 31 October, a major protest by Polish truck drivers threatened to shut down all border crossings between Poland and Ukraine starting on November 3rd, which marked the beginning of the border blockade crisis.
- On 6 November, dozens of Polish truck drivers blocked three border crossings with Ukraine, and expanded it to a fourth crossing. The Polish protesters demanded the return of permits for Ukrainian carriers, tougher EU transportation requirements, prohibiting non-EU company registration, access to Ukraine’s Shlyakh system for eligible drivers, separate border queues for EU cars in eCherha, and dedicated lanes for empty vehicles.
- On 14 November, talks between Ukraine and Poland at the countries’ border failed to resolve the strike, and four days later, nearly 3,000 trucks had congested at the Polish-Ukrainian border.
- The organizers of the Polish trucker strike at the Ukrainian border had close ties to Russia and supported Russia’s occupation of Crimea.
- The protest claimed its first casualty on 22 November, when a 56-year-old Ukrainian truck driver who was waiting to cross the border into Ukraine died.
- On 27 November, Poland presented Ukraine with carrier demands: implementation of commercial permits for Ukrainian companies, except those transporting humanitarian/military goods, plus suspension and verification of licenses for companies opened after the Ukraine war outbreak.
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