The main demands of farmers remain unchanged: the Polish government’s refusal of the European "Green Deal" and blockade of agricultural products from Ukraine.
On Wednesday, March 20, the Polish authorities agreed with farmers blocking checkpoints on the border with Ukraine restrictions on the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products. Despite the agreement, the large-scale protest does not stop. Moreover, it was on this day that farmers began to block even the movement of passenger buses at the Medika-Shegini checkpoint.
TSN.ua collected everything that is currently known about the situation on the Polish-Ukrainian border.
What are the scale and demands of the protest action
Polish farmers announced a large strike on March 20, during which road blockades and protests will take place in more than five thousand places throughout Poland.
The main demands of farmers remain the same: the Polish government’s refusal of the European Green Deal and the blockade of agricultural products from Ukraine.
Police said that 580 protests have been officially registered across Poland, in which about 70 thousand people could take part. This is a huge event that will require the involvement of a large number of law enforcement officers.
Farmers block truck traffic on the border with Ukraine during the protest, and the blockade continues on the German border.
Bus blocking
As of the morning of March 20, Polish farmers were blocking truck traffic at five checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. There were 850 freight vehicles in queues on the territory of Poland, most of all in front of the Yagodin checkpoint. buses. The protesters plan to allow one bus to pass for two hours, both to enter and leave Ukraine. Border guards asked drivers to take this information into account.
Deputy Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine – Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov reacted angrily to this situation.
“Why do you allow this? Should people really be hostages of political confrontations in a civilized country?” – he addressed the Polish Minister of Internal Affairs.
Concessions to Polish power
During the protest, representatives of farmers signed an agreement with Polish officials – Minister of Agriculture Czeslaw Sekierski and State Secretary of the Ministry Michal Kolodziejczak.
The agreement involves maintaining the current embargo on agricultural products from Ukraine, in force since mid-September last year. It concerns in particular wheat, corn, wheat flour, rapeseed and sunflower.
In addition, the Minister of Agriculture must apply to the Council of Ministers with a request to suspend the transit of these products through Polish territory from April 1 of this year.
What losses will Ukraine suffer
Due to the blocking of the border by Polish farmers, the Ukrainian budget in March 2024 will receive less customs payments by UAH 6.5 billion.
The head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, Danilo Getmantsev, spoke about this.
“6.5 billion UAH. This is how much Ukraine will lose in revenues from customs as a result of blocking the border in March. This is one and a half fully equipped brigades,” he noted.
Daniil Getmantsev also recalled that in February the Ukrainian budget lost customs revenues by UAH 7.7 billion.
Recall, March 15 TSN.ua already reported that Polish farmers began to block the borders with Slovakia to check whether grain was being imported in this way from Ukraine. There, too, the road was blocked by tractors. This action led to the accumulation of about a dozen cars and several dozen trucks at the border.
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