The beginning of the year 2016 is marked by a number of unfavorable conditions for road carriers of Ukraine.
At first, the Russian Federation limited transit of Ukrainian goods via its territory headed for Kazakhstan. The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine declared that this regulation actually means “a complete stop of transit of goods from Ukraine via the territory of Russia”. In response, the government of Ukraine is planning to consider the decision to ban transit of Russian goods via its territory as well.
Moreover, negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on giving permits for road carriers have been protracted. The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine points that they haven’t agreed on the quotas yet as Russia requires a significant reduction in the number of one-time transit permits, as well as the introduction of quotas for bilateral transportation.
At the same the RZD Partner reports that considering the possible entry of Ukraine into the free-trade zone with EU, Hungary and Romania keep to the policy of placing barriers limiting Ukrainian road carriers as well. Hungary intends to reduce considerably the number of permits for Ukrainian carriers in 2016 and increase carrier costs by introducing additional transportation taxes.
In particular, Hungary offers a quota system establishing the number of permits quarterly and allowing a maximum of 6.5 thousand permits for the first quarter of the year, while Ukraine needs around 45.25 thousand permits in total annually. As it’s impossible to reach a consensus, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine declares that Ukraine will appeal to the European Commission in order to settle the issue.