Largest checkpoint on Polish border reopens after strike

The Dorohusk-Jagodzin border crossing point on the border with Poland has been unblocked after a strike by Polish carriers, Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry announced on Monday.

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Earlier this month, Polish carriers announced a series of protests until June at the lifting of permits for Ukrainian drivers, something they believe undercut competition.

While the checkpoint was not completely blocked, it was not operating in a normal mode, with only a few dozen trucks able to pass per day compared to up to 700 before.

The strike, which lasted more than ten days, has "caused significant losses for our carriers and exporters," Ukraine’s vice prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov was quoted as saying.

"I am grateful to our Polish colleagues for the joint decision and the return to the implementation of the provisions of the ‘transport visa-free regime’ and the agreements on the Dorohusk-Jagodzin border crossing capacity," he added.

By Sunday morning, there were almost 2,400 trucks in the queue at the checkpoint, the largest of any checkpoint on the border, which has now decreased by several hundred trucks.

Last week, the infrastructure ministry decided to temporarily suspend the requirement for permits for Polish carriers transporting to Ukraine from any EU country, which was one of the key demands of the Polish strikers.

Kyiv believes that such transportations require permits and are not bilateral, with the European commission expected to clarify the issue in the near future.

The Dorohusk-Jagodzin checkpoint, the busiest on the Ukrainian-Polish border, provides about 40 percent of cargo flow to Poland.