Truckers’ strike has grown nationwide (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

International trucking companies of Ukraine launched a nationwide strike today, the ZAK INSIDER reported. 
Carriers have been warning the authorities about the growing crisis in the international road haulage industry for a long time. Long waiting times at the borders, insufficient number of permits for the transportation within the territories of foreign countries adversely affect the competitiveness of domestic transport companies putting them on the verge of survival.
The last drop was the introduction of online booking of permits on January 1, 2020, which basically paralyzed the operations of international trucking companies. Moreover, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine did not even invite carriers to the presentation of this transport portal!
As a result, due to the shortcomings of the online booking program and high demand, huge queues formed at the permit issuance points, the vehicle waiting time significantly increased, and, as a consequence, it led to the loss of the transportation market due to failure to comply with the terms of contracts, made it impossible to pay salaries on time. The ill-considered policy of issuing permits for international road haulage in January this year alone contributed to the reduction in the number of trips by more than 5 thousand (compared to January last year), wage arrears to drivers in amount of more than UAH 23 million.

Pursuant to Article 39 of the Constitution of Ukraine, Ukrainian international trucking companies have decided to exercise their right to hold a protest rally in Kyiv on February 12, 2020, using heavy-duty vehicles and to claim their right to work and to be able to fulfill their export / import contractual obligations.
The site First.com.ua filmed a line of trucks near the village of Rakoshino on the Kyiv-Chop highway: