Thousands of Polish trucks carrying Russian agricultural products are quietly crossing the border from Belarus to Poland and vice versa, while Polish protesters have essentially blocked the movement of freight transport on the Ukrainian border.
This is stated in an investigation by Ukrainska Pravda.
Journalists note that although in September 2023, following farmers’ protests, Poland banned the import of rapeseed meal from Ukraine, the volume of goods entering from Belarus is constantly increasing.
For example, journalists called a Polish company and introduced themselves as the manager of a real Belarusian company and offered to buy Russian rapeseed meal under Belarusian documents. In response, the manager of the Polish company asked to send the terms of supply by e-mail.
“For your understanding, in just three months after the ban on Ukrainian products was imposed, the Poles purchased almost $8 million worth of rapeseed meal through Belarus,” emphasized Mykhailo Tkach, author of the investigation.
For example, at the Kukuryki checkpoint, the film crew counted hundreds of trucks that entered Poland from Belarus without any obstacles.
“Judging by communication with representatives of agricultural firms, Russian agricultural products first go to Belarus, where they are loaded onto trucks with Polish registration in special centers, and then the trucks go to Poland to the addresses of large companies. One of these centers in Belarus is the Koliadichi terminal of the BTLC State Enterprise in Minsk,” the investigation says.
The journalists analyzed data from open sources and talked to some Polish representatives and found out that at least three companies in Poland are buying agricultural products from Russia en masse: Bromex, Diaspolis, and Kampol Krzysztof Łużniak.
The journalists note that in general, Poland and other EU countries have not been banned from trading with Russia and Belarus, as no sanctions have been imposed on agricultural products. However, the volume of goods imported to Poland from Russia has been steadily increasing since 2021.
Since early February, Polish farmers have been blocking the border between Ukraine and Poland again. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the blocking of the Polish-Ukrainian border is political. He emphasized that if the situation cannot be resolved through negotiations, Ukraine will take measures to protect entrepreneurs.
