The cost of transporting agricultural products rose substantially due to the blocking of checkpoints on the Romanian and Polish borders, the Agriculture Ministry reported on Telegram on Jan. 16.
“Every day of vehicle downtime costs money, so transportation prices are rising by 15-20%,” Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy Markiyan Dmytrasevych said.
Additionally, the blockades were also physically difficult for Ukrainian truck drivers to endure.
“The weather conditions are not ideal now — it is not very pleasant to stand in lines at both the Romanian and Polish borders,” said Dmytrasevych.
Polish freight carriers initiated strikes at the Ukrainian border on Nov. 6, blocking three border crossings for freight transport. A further checkpoint was blocked on Nov. 23.
Although the European Commission stated on Nov. 16 that they might initiate punitive procedures against Poland if the issue of blocking border crossings with Ukraine was not resolved, Polish farmers joined the blockade on Dec. 20.
Checkpoints have been blocked times since then. The Polish government reached an agreement with truckers on Jan. 16. The border blockade will be suspended until March 1.