About 3,900 trucks in queues at border with Poland
As of the morning of December 22, about 3,900 trucks are waiting in lines at the border with Poland to enter Ukraine, 1,700 of them at the Yahodyn checkpoint.
This was announced by the spokesman for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Andriy Demchenko, on the air of the United News telethon, Ukrinform reports.
"Unfortunately, the blockade continues. For some time, the direction of the Yahodyn checkpoint was unblocked. However, on December 18, the blocking resumed, in fact, four directions are now blocked again - Yahodyn, Rava-Ruska, Krakivets, and Shehyni," he noted.
According to him, as of the morning of December 22, according to the Polish side, 3,900 trucks are waiting in lines on the territory of Poland to cross the border to Ukraine.
Demchenko informed that the largest number of trucks is waiting in line at the Yahodyn checkpoint - more than 1,700.
"Of course, there is some traffic in all four directions, but it is many times less than it was before the blockade," the spokesman added.
He noted that the lowest traffic was at the largest infrastructure facility and direction, the Yahodyn-Dorohusk checkpoint, with about 170 trucks crossing the border in both directions per day, "of which only about 30 were heading to Poland, the rest to Ukraine."
As for the other checkpoints on Ukraine's border with Hungary and Slovakia, Demchenko said that the movement of freight transport is not blocked there.
"There were days when traffic was difficult. We are talking about the direction of the Uzhhorod checkpoint on the border with Slovakia. But at the moment, other directions, except for these four on the border with Poland, are functioning normally, the traffic is full," the speaker emphasized.
However, he stressed that there are queues at these crossing points, because due to the actions of Polish carriers, "drivers choose other directions where they could cross the border faster."
"As of this morning, there are almost 400 trucks in the queues at the Uzhhorod checkpoint. We have more than 700 trucks in the direction of the Tysa checkpoint on the border with Hungary. Recently, queues have also increased at the Romanian border, in the direction of the Porubne checkpoint. As of this morning, there are 900 trucks waiting to cross the border. The traffic is moving, but, of course, there are queues," Demchenko summarized.
As reported, on November 6, Polish carriers began a blockade of truck traffic near the three largest checkpoints on the border with Ukraine: Korczowa-Krakivets, Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska, and Dorohusk-Yahodyn.
Among the main demands is the return of the practice of permits for Ukrainian carriers, which was abolished by the agreement with the EU until June 30, 2024.