Threat to EU trucking looms after Russia cuts Polish transit permits

POLISH-hauled road freight between Russia and the European Union could grind to a halt within months, unless a simmering bureaucratic dispute over the quota of border-crossing permits is resolved.

Polish truckers, who play a major role in transporting goods between the EU and Russia, could run out of limited numbers of Russian one-time border transit permits, says forwarders who say the situation has already increased costs.

The issue affects manufacturers and exporters from across Europe because a large proportion of Russia-bound cargo is hauled by Polish truckers who have had their transit permit quota cut from 180,000 to 150,000.

Most permits are intended to facilitate trade between Poland and Russia, and only a small number are to enable transport from other counties through Poland into Russia often via Belarus.

Meanwhile, the number of unlimited-entry, year-round permits granted to Polish operators has been cut from 1,100 to 670.

Forwarders now look for alternatives, such as using ro-ro services to the Baltic states and then employing non-Polish truckers to make the border crossing. The Russian Ministry of Transport has also given public support to a one-year-old weekly DFDS ro-ro service from Sassnitz in Germany to Ust Luga in Russia, a route that completely cuts out Poland.

Such bypass tactics may be short-lived given Poland's dominance of the Russia-EU market and some forwarders have warned that services to Russia could become more expensive and less reliable.

Alexander Rogan, director of Moscow-based Priority Freight CIS said, "It is likely that Poland will run dry totally in Q3 and Q4 2012," adding that that some shippers have contributed to the problem by turning a blind eye to Polish transport providers who carry non-Polish goods using permits intended for trade only between Poland and Russia.

This is believed to be part of the reasoning behind the Russian action, but this could not be ascertained from the Russian Ministry of Transport.

Said a Transport Ministry spokesman: "Several meetings have been held and it has been agreed to run consultations of trucking associations from each country. First, trucking industry representatives will hold a meeting, and then transport ministers will discuss the issue, most probably in July."