Exports decrease by 40% due to blockade on Polish border - Hetmantsev

As a result of the blockade of the Ukrainian-Polish border, exports through these checkpoints decreased by 40%, and the state budget of Ukraine lost UAH 9.3 billion due to a shortfall in customs payments.

This was stated by Danylo Hetmantsev, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, on the air of the United News telethon, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Undoubtedly, this is a powerful blow to our economy and our exports... We have a 40% reduction in exports through the relevant land crossing points. We have a statement from carriers about losses of €400 million in the first two weeks of this blockade alone... As for the budget, based on the results of November, we can clearly determine that the budget lost ₴9.3 billion from the shortfall in customs payments. This is a huge amount of money that the army has not received and which we desperately need today," the MP said.

According to him, today there is a 19% shortfall in the customs plan, although there was an overfulfillment in October.

"The governments of these countries (where carriers block the border - ed.) should not wait until the situation becomes critical. They must realize that this situation is hurting them. By weakening Ukraine, they are strengthening our common enemy and causing the latter to hit their own economies harder. Given that the blockade is being carried out by marginal political forces that do not represent the majority in these countries, I am convinced that against this background, we should not play politics, but rather implement the European law that allows free movement of vehicles across the EU," the head of the parliamentary committee emphasized.

As Ukrinform 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. The protesters want the agreement to be terminated and the permit regime to be restored from January 1.

On November 23, Polish farmers joined the protest and began blocking truck traffic at the Medyka-Shehyni checkpoint near Przemysl to express their demands.

On December 1, at 16:05, the Union of Slovak Carriers began blocking truck traffic through the Vyšné Nemecké checkpoint on the border with Ukraine.

As of the morning of December 5, truck traffic through Vyšné Nemecké was unblocked.