Kazakh cargo transport companies affected by closure of crossing point on Poland-Belarus border – chamber

ASTANA. Feb 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kazakh trucking companies have found themselves in a complicated situation following the closure of a crossing point on the Poland-Belarus border that was used to access the territory of the European Union, the press service for the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan said on Friday.

“The movement of trucks via the Kukuryki-Kozlovichi crossing on the Poland-Belarus border has been prohibited since 7:00 p.m. Warsaw time on February 21. This ban does not apply to vehicles registered in Poland and other member countries of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, the countries that are parties to the European Economic Area Agreement, and the Swiss Confederation. However, vehicles registered in other countries/ regions cannot used this crossing,” the press service said.

“The Kukuryki-Kozlovichi crossing was the last opportunity that Kazakh trucking companies could use following the closure of the Bobrowniki-Berestovitsa border crossing,” it said.

“The new restrictions also apply to Kazakh cargo transport companies that deliver export goods from Kazakhstan to countries of Europe and European goods intended for Kazakh enterprises. These are multi-million losses. There are more than 150 Kazakh trucks in the territory of Poland as of February 23, and more than 100 are heading toward the European Union. The logistics has been disrupted, the transport costs are rising,” according to the Atameken chamber.

The Kazakh embassy has already forwarded notes to Polish authorities, underscoring the need to lift these restrictions for Kazakh trucking companies, the press service said.

“The only land route that connects the European Union and the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union is the route via the Lithuania-Belarus, Latvia-Belarus and Latvia-Russia border crossings. There is also an alternative route through the Caspian Sea, but it increases the distance to European countries by 1.5-fold and increases transport costs twice or thrice due to the need to use several kinds of transport (auto-sea) and the impact of climatic and geographical conditions on the route (storm seasons, high mountains, etc.), it said.

Negotiations are underway with Lithuania to allow Kazakh cargo transport companies to transit Lithuanian territory unhindered in order to allow Kazakh trucks to exit EU territory in the direction of Belarus and Russia unhindered, the press service said.

“A list of stranded trucks is also being compiled in order to pass this information to the Lithuanian side,” it said.