A “crisis desk” has been set up to address the situation of Turkish lorries stranded amid the Ukraine conflict, the head of Turkey’s top business body said on Saturday.
Queues of lorries have been stuck at borders or on the way toward Russia and Belarus, while dozens are reported to be inside Ukraine, as exporters have found themselves in a tight spot amid Russia’s invasion of its southern neighbor.
The crisis desk has been established in coordination with ministries, related public institutions, representative offices abroad and the International Transporters Association (UND), said Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, the chairperson of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB).
The desk will instantly follow up on the situation and try to ensure Turkish lorries and exports are not affected by the Ukraine conflict.
Hisarcıklıoğlu said the International Road Transport Union (IRU) “has called on the European Commission and the route countries for the return of our regional carriers to our country without visas and transit documents.”
“We see the support of countries,” he said in a statement.
A statement by the UND said lorries would not be required to submit transit documents through Moldova and Hungary.
About 500 Turkish lorries are being impacted by the conflict, with many of them waiting to return to Turkey, said UND Deputy Head Fatih Şener.
Some of these are either stuck at the border or have been on the way toward Russia or Belarus, while others are inside Ukraine filled with return shipments after unloading their cargo.
Around 55,000 and 12,000 shipments are made to Russia and Ukraine on annual basis, respectively, by some 18,000 Turkish lorries, said Şener.
Transportation has been severely affected after Russia unleashed an invasion of Ukraine last Thursday with a series of missile strikes quickly followed by a ground assault from the north, east and south.
Şener stressed shipments to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus have been halted.
Both Russia and Ukraine are among the most important markets for Turkey, given the close links in trade, energy and tourism.
Exporters of fresh fruit and vegetables have said they may have to direct their goods meant for Russia and Ukraine toward the domestic market to avoid spoiling of their goods.
Some 1.5 million tons of fresh fruit and vegetables were sent to Russia last year and 500,000 tons were shipped to Ukraine.
Exporters associations have also stressed they were already having difficulties in getting their payments in Russia after the ruble plunged in value against the dollar and the euro.
Moscow’s action caused a barrage of financial sanctions meant to isolate, punish and impoverish Russia, with punitive measures aiming to impede its ability to do business in the world’s major currencies, namely dollars, euros, pounds and yen.
“We have established a crisis desk consisting of officials of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the embassies in Russia and Ukraine and commercial counselors, as well as the Ministries of Trade, Transport and Infrastructure, a Ro-Ro company and TOBB,” Şener recalled.
“Here we get instant information from our truck drivers. Currently, about 500 of our trucks are waiting to return and are either at the border or in Ukraine after unloading their cargo.”
