Dozens of Polish carriers blocked three crossing points between Poland and Ukraine on Monday to protest “unfair competition” from companies from the neighboring country, AFP reported.

Almost all road traffic was blocked by trucks lined up by demonstrators who blamed the drop in their incomes on the European Union’s liberalization of border transport rules.

“We want the rules of fair competition to be restored,” Rafal Mekler, co-organizer of the demonstration in Dorohusk (east), told AFP.

Dressed in safety vests, a group of protesters led by Meckler left their trucks on the main road leading to the Dorogusk border crossing, blocking traffic.

On a poster attached to the car, the demonstrators listed their demands, first of all, the restoration of passes for Ukrainian competitors in order to reduce their number.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU abandoned the permit system that regulated the entry of Ukrainian transport companies into the EU.

And, according to Polish truckers, this decision led to a significant increase in the number of Ukrainian competitors in this sector, which hit their business hard.

“The costs of maintaining a truck, hiring a driver or simply starting a business or obtaining insurance are much lower than in Poland,” says the owner of the transport company, Marek Oklinski.

According to him and his colleagues, this means that it is difficult to overcome competition with Ukrainian colleagues.

“They lower the price and take away the goods we were transporting,” complains the owner, who has 25 years of experience transporting goods in Ukraine.

A question of survival

In addition to the restoration of entry permits, another priority of the protesters is the procedure for returning to Poland from Ukraine.

“The Ukrainians have created an electronic queue system where truck drivers who want to return to Poland have to register… The waiting time is about 11-12 days,” explains Meckler.

Carriers also explain that the deterioration of working conditions causes the dismissal of some drivers.

“They say they are not going to camp here for 12 days without access to sanitation,” Pavel Ozygala, owner of the transport company coordinating the blockade, told AFP in Dorohusk.

Demonstrators set up similar blockades at the border crossings of Hrebenne and Korchov, threatening to block individual cars, as well as humanitarian and military aid heading to Ukraine.

Poland’s infrastructure ministry said Warsaw could not meet the demonstrators’ demands under European rules.

“The agreement was signed by the EU… from a practical point of view, Poland does not have the necessary means to restore the permit system before the agreement expires,” the ministry said in a statement sent to AFP. asking the demonstrators to stop to block the roads.

But for Ozygala and other truck drivers in Dorohusk, their mobilization is a matter of survival.

“We continue to fight, but if nothing changes before the end of the year, Ukraine will take control of the Polish transport market,” he said.