KYIV -- A top Ukrainian government official has said Kyiv is "ready for a constructive dialogue" to resolve a dispute that has led to Polish truckers blocking border crossings between the two countries over claims of unfair competition.
Polish "carriers have started blocking three key cargo border-crossing points between [Ukraine and Poland],” Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov wrote on social media on November 6.
He said his ministry was cooperating with the European Commission and the government of Poland "to resolve the situation."
"Our official position is that blocking the border harms the interests and economies of both countries," he said.
He added that the action damaged the process of exporting Ukrainian agricultural products, but "at the same time, we are ready for a constructive dialogue that will consider the interests of the carriers of both countries."
The comments came as Polish truckers blocked three border crossings with Ukraine over what they call unfair foreign competition after the European Union loosened rules pertaining to international transport for Ukrainian carriers.
The EU waived a permit system for Ukrainian cargo transporters looking to enter the bloc to aid Kyiv following Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Polish truckers contend the EU action is creating long lines at the border and costing them business and are demanding the reimposition of limits on the number of Ukrainian-licensed trucks entering the country.
The truckers also are seeking a ban on transport companies from outside the EU.
"We are protesting because of the disruptions in road transport to Polish carriers...caused by the uncontrolled inflow of Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian companies," Karol Rychlik, a transport company owner and head of a trucker association, was quoted by Reuters as saying at a border crossing near Dorohusk.
Despite the action at the border sites, protest organizers said they will allow humanitarian and military cargo, buses, and private vehicles to pass through to Ukraine.
The Polish government did not immediately comment on Kubrakov's remarks.
Warsaw has been one of Kyiv's most strident backers in its battle against Russia's full-scale invasion.
However, tensions rose after Ukrainian agricultural exports -- mainly blocked at traditional Crimean export routes because of the war -- were forced to move through Ukraine's EU neighbors, flooding those markets and driving down prices to the detriment of local farmers.
Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia decided to extend an EU ban introduced to protect farmers from the surge in grain and food imports from Ukraine.
Still, leaders of Poland and Ukraine have sought to ease tensions.
The two countries in early October said they had agreed to speed the transit of Ukrainian cereal products through Poland en route to third countries, despite opposition from Polish right-wing parties seeking a tougher line against Ukraine.
