EU-Ukraine special agreement

The road freight transport between the European Union and Ukraine is currently governed by two main mechanisms namely bilateral transport agreements between EU Member States and Ukraine and permits granted in the framework the ECMT multilateral quota system within the International Transport Forum. Both these mechanisms impose quotas on hauliers from both sides. The volume of road exports and, as a result, the need for permits for international transportation in some areas has increased several times in the context of a full-scale war and the blockade of Ukrainian ports. Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov, said, “At the same time, we are working on building border infrastructure that would significantly increase capacity at the western borders. In particular, within the framework of the Open Border project we plan to eliminate all bottlenecks at the border.” Over the last five years, the limited number of permits for international transportation has been a major issue for Ukrainian carriers. Since the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union in 2016, trade with the EU has nearly doubled, and road haulage has increased by 42 per cent..