The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS) has commented on the situation on the Ukrainian-Polish border where Polish transporters have been blocking truck traffic for the last two days.

 Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson of the SBGS, reported in a 24/7 newscast that Poland does not let pass the trucks coming through the Yahodyn control point from Ukraine. Meanwhile, the truck traffic through the Krakovets and Rava-Ruska control points is ongoing.

Demchenko also stated that the difficulties in traffic are present in all three directions.

"On the Yahodyn control point, the Polish side does not let the trucks coming from Ukraine pass, and we have also noted that there is an intensive traffic from Poland to Ukraine. Maybe, a few vehicles arrive from Poland every hour. Meanwhile, the traffic of trucks from Ukraine through the Krakovets and Rava-Ruska control points is ongoing," he said.

The traffic of trucks going from Poland to Ukraine is also limited. Only a few vehicles arriving from Poland undergo complete inspection in an hour.

According to the reports of the SBGS, as of the morning of 7 November, about 160 trucks were waiting to cross the border in the direction of the Yahodyn control point. There were about 100 of them near Krakovets and about 50 near Rava-Ruska.

Demchenko added that the participants of the protest do not hinder bus and car traffic.

Earlier, tens of Polish carriers started blocking three passages on the border with Ukraine.

Vasyl Zvarych, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Poland, called the border blockade "a painful stab in Ukraine’s back" and urged the carriers to stop it.

Key demand of the Polish carriers is to bring back the system of issuing permits for Ukrainian carriers to work in the EU.

After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Union took unprecedented steps to support the Ukrainian economy and cancelled the need for Ukrainians to obtain these permits for a year. And this summer, the EU extended this rule until June 2024.

Now, Polish carriers are demanding that this privilege be fully cancelled and that the old permit system be brought back.

Another requirement is to tighten the rules for transport under the EICMT, a certificate issued by the European Conference of Ministers of Transport.