Protests by Polish carriers have an impact on all aspects of the Ukrainian economy. The blockade of the Ukrainian-Polish border that began in early November became a real “stab in the back” for Ukrainian exporters of steel pipes. This was stated by the General Director of the Ukrtruboprom Association Georgy Polsky.
“The European direction is the only one that remains for our business after the start of a large-scale war. Many trucks with pipes are still stuck in traffic jams, and all delivery deadlines to European customers have been missed. But there is a threat of the strike expanding to other Eastern European countries. If this happens, almost all pipe factories located in the front-line regions will have to stop production facilities from mid-December,” he said.
In general, according to Ukrtruboprom, in January-September 2023 Ukrainian enterprises increased pipe production compared to the same period last year by 5.1% to 376.1 thousand tons.
In particular, Interpipe Niko Tube and Research and Production Enterprise with the Research Institute Ukrtruboizol increased the production of seamless pipes by 8.8% and 26.2%, respectively, while Trubostal reduced by 54.5%. Centravis increased the production of stainless pipes by 12.9%, while Interpipe NMTZ decreased the production of electric welded pipes by 62.9%. The production of pipes at the Oscar Production Association decreased by 25%.
The head of Ukrtruboprom noted that at the end of 9 months of this year, the pipe industry of Ukraine showed positive dynamics, despite the constant shelling of production sites located in front-line zones, in particular, in Nikopol.
“Factories invest in the safety of workers, for example, by placing mobile protective units on the territory of workshops, where people can hide from bombing. In addition, the problem of a stable supply of water to pipe production after the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station dam and the shallowing of the Kakhovka reservoir remains unresolved,” he said.
Polish carriers are blocking supplies of equipment to Ukraine. Thousands of trucks with fuel, drones, thermal imagers and medical supplies are parked at the border.
Polish road carriers decided to blockade checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border, demanding the return of international road transport permits for Ukrainian truck drivers. The organizer of the action to block checkpoints on the border with Ukraine, Rafal Meckler, head of the Lublin branch of the far-right Confederation party, announced his intention to extend the protest for a month - until February 1, 2024.
However, some Ukrainian experts They consider the problem with the blockade of Polish checkpoints to be far-fetched. For example, energy expert Gennady Ryabtsev noted that there are 31 automobile checkpoints in Ukraine, and only 9 of them are checkpoints through Poland. “When they say that problems at 3 out of 31 checkpoints have led to an increase in the price of propane-butane by a quarter, then I wonder if someone is speculating on this,” he says.
