Before the war, Ukraine exported raw materials and goods in the cheapest way – by sea. However, the blocking of Ukraine’ seaports forced exporters to switch to road transport. The industry’s development was facilitated by neighboring countries that began to build motorways for Ukrainian trucks – primarily, roads leading to their ports.
The liberalization of road transport from the EU also played a role, allowing bilateral and transit transport without acquiring permits. The Ministry of Infrastructure noted that the Agreement on Liberalization of Road Transport in Ukraine helped the number of carriers and vehicles to double in a year. During the full-scale invasion, exports transported by road transport increased by 45%, and imports increased by 44%, which is crucial for the Ukrainian economy.
A logistics company CEO, Oleksandr Tonchev, said that road transportation prices have increased due to such changes in the market. Before the war, transporting goods in a truck to Poland cost €700 conventionally, and now this costs €2,000. Because road transport is several times faster than rail transport, the road transport market has grown exponentially in the last 2.5 years.