Losses in EU trade due to a shortage of transport permits for trucks
Almost 40% of the value of Ukraine’s exports to the EU in 2018 was transported by trucks. At the same time, Ukrainian road carriers experienced a shortage of transport permits for key EU countries.
Transport permits for Ukrainian trucks to operate in several EU countries ran out before the end of 2018. Most strongly affected were permits for Poland. Noticeable shortages at the end of 2018 also affected permits for Germany, Austria and Slovakia.
This shortage of permits has had a negative effect on Ukraine-EU trade, both for imports and exports. Ukrainian exports to the EU in November and December of 2018 were decreased by EUR 110 m and imports from the EU by EUR 254 m. This effect was either due to unavailability of road transport or strongly increased transport prices. The negative impact on trade could worsen in 2019 unless the problem is addressed. Ukraine should both redouble its efforts to remedy intransparency in the sales of transport permits by its State Service for Transport Safety as well as attempt to negotiate higher allocations of permits with key trade partners such as Germany and Poland, which coincides with their own trade interests.
