Polish blockade could hit prices in Ukraine

Polish blockade could hit prices in Ukraine

Due to the blockade of the border with Ukraine in Poland, prices for transporting goods are rising significantly. This applies to both import and export. As a result, end consumers will face higher prices for Polish food products in Ukraine and Ukrainian food products in Poland. In addition, there are problems with the supply of household appliances to Ukraine. A shortage is not expected, but prices may also rise.

Detour routes through Romania and other countries neighboring Ukraine make the delivery of goods more expensive by 200-400 euros per shipment, Pavlo Lynnyk, general director of the logistics company Global Ocean Link, told the Ministry of Finance portal. According to him, now on the border with Poland, carriers wait from 25 to 20 days, on the borders with Slovakia and Hungary - 7-9 days, and Romania - 4-5 days.

“That’s why we offer customers delivery through Romania. This makes logistics more expensive (plus 200-400 euros to the rate), but saves time,” stated Linnik. In general, during the blockade (i.e. from November 2023), according to him, transportation tariffs increased by 2-2.5 times.

“Logistics challenges entail an increase in prices for transporting products. Another consequence is an increase in the cost of production resources for our agricultural sector. Seeds, protective equipment, fertilizers - all of this is sent to Ukraine from the EU mainly through the Polish border. Gradually, companies will focus on bypassing Poland ", which will affect the price of products and increase delivery times. Ukrainian value-added products in Poland and Polish products in Ukraine will become more expensive, which will be felt by end consumers," confirms Oleh Khomenko, General Director of UCAB.

In turn, Comfy commercial director Ivan Pavlyk says that some equipment suppliers already have a “plan B” in case of further border blockade. “They are working on routes, or they are already supplying goods through Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, or they are using the sea routes of Turkey,” he noted.

According to him, there is now no shortage of equipment, because sellers have stocked up on goods in advance, preparing for peak demand for the spring holidays. “We do not expect the situation with the availability of goods to worsen over the coming weeks,” Pavlyk assured.

As stated by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland Vasyl Zvarych, Ukraine has already lost $500 million, or about 19 billion UAH, from the Polish border blockade. This deals a serious blow not only to the Ukrainian economy, but also to the country’s defense, and therefore also threatens the security of Poland.

And Deputy Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council Denys Marchuk pointed out that Ukrainian business lost more than 1.5 billion euros (62 billion UAH) due to strikes on the border with Poland in November-December 2023 and partly in January 2024. In addition, the state budget did not receive about 8 billion UAH. customs payments.