Polish ports suffer losses due to lack of Ukrainian grain

Polish transport companies, ports and transshipment terminals complain about losses due to the lack of transshipment of Ukrainian grain.

This is reported by Rail.insider with reference to Rynek infrastruktury.

For more than a year, a significant problem has arisen at the Polish borders due to the lack of imports of goods, in particular grain from Ukraine.

“We understand that the arrival of Ukrainian raw materials, agricultural products and grain on the Polish market is bad and should never happen. However, we must distinguish between two things: permission for transit, and therefore profit for Polish ports and transshipment terminals, and permission for the release of goods into circulation. We believe that blocking the transshipment of products from Ukraine in Poland is painful for our economy,” said Laura Gołowacz, CEO of the CSL Group.

The company added that the lack of imports of goods leads to huge costs and the threat of layoffs. This situation requires action by national authorities, in particular the Ministry of Infrastructure.

“Imports, especially grain from Ukraine, have been suspended for over a year. Polish terminals have very high maintenance costs. We have also noticed that some countries, such as Romania, Germany and Turkey, have a large amount of grain from Ukraine in their ports. These countries are able to work in such a way as to process the transportation of raw materials, while preventing its distribution on their domestic markets. Unfortunately, this situation has been neglected in Poland. As a result, transport companies, ports and transshipment terminals are suffering losses,” stressed Laura Gołowacz.

It is noted that transit through Poland is carried out legally and is controlled by national authorities. Transport companies express their desire that during the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products, transshipment takes place through Polish terminals, and then the goods are transported to other countries.

The representative of the transport company also noted that the Polish authorities pay great attention to the safety and quality control of goods and documents.

“The problem is certainly the slowness of border clearance procedures. Sometimes they last up to several days, not only from Ukraine, but also from other directions. It is necessary to analyze the entire supply chain, as the industry is currently suffering losses, which, in turn, affects the national economy and our GDP,” commented Laura Golovach.

She also warned that the current situation could lead to the bankruptcy of local transport companies.

As previously reported by USM, Polish oil producers are asking to lift the embargo on Ukrainian rapeseed.