Polish carriers promised to unblock the border with Ukraine from January 17 to March 1

Poland's Minister of Infrastructure Dariusz Klimczak announced yesterday that he had concluded an agreement with Polish carriers to suspend the blockade of the Ukrainian border from January 17. Polish drivers protesting against competition from Ukrainian carriers have agreed to halt the border blockade until March 1, while further negotiations with the ministry continue. The details of the agreement are not disclosed, but it is known that the minister promised to strengthen the control of documents of Ukrainian carriers, and not to return the permit system, which was canceled in 2022 after the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. Also, the Polish authorities will offer Ukraine to make changes to the electronic border control system.

The State Border Service of Ukraine reported that the blocking of the checkpoints "Krakivets" and "Rava-Ruska" by Polish drivers has been completed, and the registration and movement of trucks across the border in both directions is proceeding normally. Currently, almost 700 trucks are waiting in queues in front of these checkpoints, but the border guards, together with the employees of the control services, are trying to ensure the maximum throughput of the crossings.

Also, the checkpoints on the Romanian border should be unlocked on January 17. On January 15, the Ministry of Agriculture of Romania agreed with representatives of agrarian organizations blocking the border with Ukraine to meet a number of demands of the strikers. Discussions will continue on unresolved issues. The government promised to adopt provisions on subsidies for loan interest and to fully subsidize all agricultural excise taxes until 2026, as well as to compensate for losses caused by Ukrainian imports. But the farmers said that the signed agreement does not mean an immediate end to the protests, as the government's negotiations with the carriers will continue until January 17.

The authorities of Romania propose to introduce marking of grain and other goods, electronic monitoring of seals in the port of Constanţa using GPS, but deny the intention of introducing a duty on the import of grain from Ukraine.

According to the information of the State Agency for Reconstruction and Development of the Infrastructure of Ukraine, Ukraine and Romania are currently working on the opening of the "Bila Krynytsia - Klimauts" and "Bila Tserkva - Sygetu-Marmatsei" cargo checkpoints on the common border, the work of which was discussed at a meeting of representatives of the agency and the State Customs Service of Ukraine with the Ambassador of Romania to Ukraine Aleksandra Viktor Mikula.