Romanian farmers continue to block border checkpoint with Ukraine

On January 14, Romanian farmers once again blocked the Siret checkpoint on the border with Ukraine.

The State Border Service of Ukraine reported this on Telegram.

Around 2:00 p.m., Romanian border police officials announced that Romanian farmers and agrarians would resume blocking the movement of goods towards the "Siret" checkpoint.

Ukrainian border guards learned about the renewal of the blockade from their Romanian colleagues.

The Romanian checkpoint is opposite the Ukrainian checkpoint "Porubne," located in the Chernivtsi region.

"The process of registering all types of vehicles and pedestrians for departure from Ukraine follows the designated procedure," the border guards note.

As reported, on January 13, Romanian farmers also blocked the movement of trucks through the Siret checkpoint.

"We would like to remind you that yesterday, a similar blocking of traffic on the territory of Romania lasted for 6 hours," added the State Security Service.

This is the first blockade of truck traffic from the Romanian side.

It is noted that the participants of the actions were located at a certain distance from the border, on the highway leading to the checkpoint.

According to available information, there was no significant queue of cargo vehicles on Romania's territory in the direction of Ukraine.

The Romanian publication Adevarul writes that the strikes of farmers and transporters in Romania have been going on since January 10.

They spontaneously block roads across the country and border points with Moldova, Bulgaria, and now also with Ukraine.

Digi24 and Stiripesurse write that carriers require the following:

• changes in the conditions of mandatory civil liability insurance of the car owner,
• exempt agricultural machinery and trucks from periodic technical inspections,
• cancel mandatory GPS installation,
• to improve the system of lending to the agricultural sector,
• and also ban the import of Ukrainian grain into the country.

The government does not want to do this.

Earlier, in October, the Romanian government adopted a resolution approving the scheme for the import of a group of Ukrainian agricultural products agreed with Kyiv. The regulation aims to protect Romanian farmers.

For reference:

Polish farmers blocked the "Medyka – Shehyni" crossing. They demanded subsidies to purchase corn and leave the agricultural tax unchanged. The government signed an agreement with them on January 6, 2024.

Ukrainian border guards confirmed that the farmers had unblocked the checkpoint in Medyka, but queues remained there.

From November 6, 2023, the checkpoints "Korchova – Krakowiec," "Grebenne – Rava-Ruska," and "Dorohusk – Yahodyn" will remain partially blocked for trucks. Polish carriers block them.

As reported, the Association of International Motor Carriers is negotiating with European truck carriers and offering them an alternative solution instead of returning permits for cargo transportation for Ukrainians.