Transport firms have asked Poland’s government to facilitate the issuing of documents necessary for Ukrainian citizens to work. The industry warns that without amendments to the process thousands of Polish businesses are at risk of bankruptcy due to problems caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Since the Russian invasion, many Ukrainian drivers outside their homeland have been unable to submit visa applications to a Polish consulate on Ukrainian territory, as returning would in many cases be a one-way journey.
Men aged 18-60 are not allowed to leave Ukraine without permission. In addition, due to the high volume of applications, consulates work slowly, say transport companies.
“The situation is extremely serious,” Transport and Logistics Poland, an employers’ association, wrote in a letter to the foreign ministry. “We call for the visa problem for Ukrainian drivers to be resolved as soon as possible.”
Before the war, Polish firms employed over 100,000 drivers from Ukraine. Between 20 and 30% of them have since returned to their country, estimates Transport and Logistics Poland. Like in other Polish industries that previously employed many Ukrainian men, such as construction, that has caused labour shortages.
The transport sector argues that additional hurdles to obtaining documents by drivers that have remained in Poland are hurting the industry further.
#RMF: TLP apeluje o pomoc w sprawie kierowców z Ukrainy – "Sytuacja jest krytyczna. Apelujemy o jak najszybsze rozwiązanie problemu wiz dla kierowców z Ukrainy". Więcej na RMF24. https://t.co/e8hNliO9l1#transport #transportdrogowy #TLP #kierowcy #kierowcazawodowy #Ukraina
— TLP (@TLP_Polska) August 26, 2022
In June, Transport and Logistics Poland warned that, by the end of the year, almost all residence permits for almost 100,000 drivers from Ukraine employed in transport will expire and that protracted visa procedures are putting more than 30,000 other non-EU drivers – mainly from Belarus – at risk.
The organisation said at the time that if the issue is not resolved by the end of 2022, several thousand hauliers are at risk of bankruptcy. “The fate of Polish transport companies depends on this issue,” it reiterated in the recent letter to the ministry.
According to the association, the operation of transport companies is critical to the generation of more than 50% of Poland’s GDP and contributes over 16 billion zloty (€3.37 billion) in taxes annually to the state.
Main photo credit: Marcin Jozwiak / Pexels
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
