Ukraine and Poland have announced the opening of an additional border crossing for empty trucks in order to address the ongoing protests and blockades by Polish drivers. The protests, which started on November 6th, are fueled by the Polish truckers' perception of unfair competition from their Ukrainian counterparts. The main demand of the Polish hauliers is to halt the permit-free access that Ukrainian truckers currently enjoy in the European Union. However, both Kyiv and Brussels maintain that this is an impossible demand to meet.

The Ukrainian border service has revealed that the Uhryniv checkpoint, currently only operating for passenger vehicles and buses, will now open for empty heavy vehicles weighing more than 7.5 metric tons starting from 1.00 a.m. on Monday. This is the first step aimed at unblocking the border, reducing queues, and increasing the capacity of the Ukrainian-Polish border. Last week, Ukraine announced that certain measures had been agreed upon with Poland to alleviate the pressure at the blockaded border crossings. However, the main demands of the protests have not yet been discussed.

The opening of the Uhryniv-Dolhobyczow crossing for commercial traffic is a collaborative effort between Ukraine's Ministry of Infrastructure, the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure, the Lubelskie Province, and with the support of the European Commission (DG MOVE). Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine's infrastructure minister, emphasized that this is only the initial step towards resolving the dispute and that work is ongoing to completely end the blockade. The protesting Polish hauliers are seeking the reintroduction of commercial permits for Ukrainian companies that transport goods other than humanitarian aid and military equipment.

They also demand the suspension of operating permits for Ukrainian haulage firms that were established after the start of the war in Ukraine. The Polish drivers argue that their business has been negatively impacted by Ukrainian firms, which offer lower wages to their drivers and thus have lower operating costs, creating an unfair advantage in competition. The opening of the additional border crossing between Ukraine and Poland for empty trucks is seen as a positive development towards resolving the ongoing disputes and easing the long tailbacks caused by the protests. Both countries will continue working towards finding a comprehensive solution that addresses the concerns of the Polish hauliers while considering the existing agreements and regulations between Ukraine and the European Union.