Slovak carriers may join blockade of border with Ukraine

This is stated in a letter sent by the head of UNAS Stanislav Skala to the Slovak Ministry of Transport.

UNAS claims that the ministry has been ignoring freight transportation for a long time and completely ignoring the problem.

"We would like to invite you to a meeting to discuss the problems with Ukrainian carriers that do not require transportation permits. We would like to point out that Slovak freight transport is on its knees. As you will have noticed, Polish truckers are blocking their borders because they have the same problem as our truckers," the letter reads.

Earlier, Slovak media reported on the accumulation of trucks traveling to Ukraine at the Vysne Nemecke-Uzhhorod border crossing. Slovak carriers are asking the Ministry of Transport to start cooperating with the European Commission and demanding the return of permits for their Ukrainian colleagues. If the EC fails to do so, "UNAS is ready to immediately support Polish carriers and block the border crossing for Ukrainian carriers from the Slovak side," said Stanislav Skala, head of UNAS.

Strikes on the Polish-Ukrainian border: what is known

Strikes have erupted on the Poland-Ukraine border due to increased competition following the opening of international transportation between Ukraine and EU nations. To address this, the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development initiated talks with Poland and the European Commission.

Responding to the potential border blockage, the State Border Guard Service provided comments, and Ukraine formally communicated its concerns to Poland regarding the planned strike by Polish carriers at the Ukrainian-Polish border.

On November 6, Polish carriers initiated a strike at the border. The Ministry of Infrastructure noted that no official demands had been submitted by the Polish carriers to Kyiv.

By the evening of November 7, Polish carriers had fully halted the movement of cargo vehicles at two border checkpoints with Ukraine.

Subsequently, it was revealed that trucks are facing up to a 90-hour wait to enter Ukraine.

On November 9, a meeting of government officials and carriers blocking the border with Ukraine took place in Poland, but it ended in nothing. At the same time, the queues of trucks are getting longer. 

As a result, Ukraine has proposed to the Polish authorities to launch lanes for empty trucks and is awaiting a response from them.