A number of business associations called on the governments of Ukraine and Poland to promote the development of existing and construction of new joint checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border, as well as to ensure the soonest signing of an agreement on a joint border between Ukraine and the Republic of Poland, the press service of the European Business Association (EBA) reported.

The initiators of the appeal were the European Business Association, American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Association of International Road Cargo Carriers, Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs, All-Polish Union of Road Transport Employers, Polish Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers.

"The full-scale war in Ukraine has immensely affected the supply chains of goods. Due to the closure of Ukraine's airspace, the blockade of some of Ukraine's sea and river ports, and significant damage to the country's railway network and infrastructure, road freight transportation through the western checkpoints became almost the only means of international goods transportation," the report notes.

The business community notes that despite the joint efforts of the Ukrainian and Polish sides and related parties to establish an effective passage of commercial vehicles through the western checkpoints on the border namely: systematic development of road infrastructure on the Ukrainian and Polish sides of the border, assistance to modernize the Shehyni-Medyka border crossing point, the introduction of an electronic queue at all existing checkpoints, commercial vehicles are forced to stand idle at the border for several days, while the existing arrangements for the electronic queue for all participants, require improvements.

According to the electronic queue data, as of the beginning of July current year, the waiting time in the general queue at the Yahodyn – Dorohusk checkpoint is approximately 7 days, and the waiting time in the queue for veterinary control is over 13 days.

"Obviously, the waiting time leads to a slowdown in the turnover of goods and financial losses for the carriers due to transport delays and breach of contracts. According to rough estimates of carriers, a day of idle time for a commercial vehicle costs EUR 300-400," they say.

In order to reduce queues at the borders and speed up the duration of checks, reduce business costs for demurrage of trucks and avoid penalties, speed up export-import operations between Ukraine and EU countries, the business community called on the governments of the two countries to expedite the signing of an agreement on a joint border between Ukraine and Republic of Poland.

According to the business association, the problem can be solved by strengthening the dialogue with the Polish side and relevant EU institutions regarding the development of existing and construction of new joint checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border and the convergence of customs procedures at Polish-Ukrainian checkpoints, the development of recommendations for changing customs legislation of Ukraine and practices of the customs departments of both countries.

The business community also pointed to the need for the State Customs Service to speed up the process of modernizing checkpoints on the Polish-Ukrainian border.