Polish terminals stand idle without Ukrainian grain, logistics group says

Laura Hołowacz, President of the logistics group CSL, criticized the current restrictions on the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products through Poland, stressing that the situation harms the Polish economy. The statement was reported by Rynek Infrastruktury.

“We understand that the inflow of Ukrainian raw materials, agricultural products, and grain into the Polish market is undesirable and should not have happened. But we must distinguish between two things: permission for transit — which brings profits to Polish ports and transshipment terminals — and permission for placing goods on the domestic market. We believe that blocking the transshipment of Ukrainian goods in Poland is detrimental to our economy,” Hołowacz said.

In a press release, CSL highlighted a persistent issue in Poland — a significant decline in imports, particularly the transit of Ukrainian grain. This situation has led to high operating costs and the threat of layoffs.

“Unfortunately, we observe that imports, especially of grain from Ukraine, have not been carried out for over a year. Polish terminals, seemingly all of them, are standing idle while incurring high maintenance costs. Meanwhile, countries like Romania, Germany, and Turkey handle large volumes of Ukrainian grain in their ports. They have managed to organize logistics in a way that allows them to work with raw materials without allowing them onto their domestic markets. In Poland, the situation has been neglected. As a result, transport companies, ports, and transshipment terminals are suffering,” Hołowacz emphasized.

She also stressed that the transit of Ukrainian cargo through Poland is legal and supervised by national authorities.

“There is nothing wrong with the transit itself — it fully complies with the law. But we are losing huge amounts of money on rail transport, transshipment, port handling, and logistics. Our warehouses are empty, while other countries earn revenue from providing these services,” she noted.

CSL is calling for the development of transit routes through Poland to ensure that as much cargo as possible passes through Polish terminals on its way to third countries.