WEI and IER Present Report on Ukraine’s Transport Sector Integration into the EU Market

On July 8, the Warsaw Enterprise Institute (WEI) and the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER) presented a joint analytical report in Lublin titled “Between the Border and the Single Market: Ukraine’s Integration into the EU and the Future of Polish Transport” dedicated to the transformation of transport connections between Poland and Ukraine in the context of our European integration. The report was presented during the “Common Future. Poland and Ukraine in the Single European Market” conference, organized with the support of the Open Society Foundations and the International Renaissance Foundation.

Main Findings:

The study shows that the “Solidarity Lanes” (an initiative of the European Commission launched in May 2022) remain a critically important economic channel for Ukraine.

As of February 2026, approximately 210 million tons of cargo have been transported via these routes, accounting for about 60% of Ukraine’s imports and 60% of its non-agricultural exports.

As a result of this initiative, Poland has consolidated its status as a central transit and logistics hub for Ukraine, remaining its largest export partner and the second-largest source of imports.

“Ukraine’s transport sector has effectively integrated into the EU single market even before our official accession. Unfortunately, the war has acted as a catalyst for this process: while it was initially an emergency response to challenges, we are now building a stable system based on EU rules and standards. Furthermore, the criteria for logistics success have changed — high volumes have been replaced by predictability and reliability,” noted Iryna Kosse, a leading research fellow at the IER and co-author of the analytical report.

Key Findings of the Report:

• Road Transport: Market liberalization in accordance with the agreement between the EU and Ukraine, which has been extended until March 31, 2027, has fundamentally changed the structure of bilateral transport: the share of Ukrainian carriers increased from 62% in 2021 to 92% in October 2023. This was accompanied by an 85% growth in Polish automotive exports to Ukraine, although structural pressure and competitive imbalances led to large-scale border blockades by Polish carriers, which, according to estimates, caused a 40% drop in road trade volume through the Polish border in November 2023.
• Border Digitalization: The Ukrainian “eCherha” (eQueue) system has reduced the average truck waiting time by 24–70%, depending on the border crossing point, saving businesses an estimated 60 million euros per month. However, the system remains unilateral: without “mirror” synchronization with Polish IT systems and shared KPIs, digital slots often turn into delayed physical queues on the Polish side.
• Rail and Intermodal Transport: Cross-border rail freight volumes increased by about 20% in 2024. Border crossings have transformed into critical “dry ports” to facilitate the transition between the Ukrainian 1520 mm broad gauge and the European 1435 mm standard gauge. The integration of Ukrainian links into the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) has mobilized significant European funding, including a 73.5 million euro grant under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Transport instrument for the “Mostyska–Skanyliv” standard gauge construction project, with a total cost of 190 million euros, extending to Lviv.
• Ports: Access to maritime transport continues to largely depend on the security situation in the Black Sea. From July 2022 to June 2023, Polish ports handled about 3 million tons of Ukrainian grain and nearly 940,000 tons of iron ore and steel. After Ukraine successfully restored the maritime corridor from the ports of Greater Odesa at the end of 2023, the volumes of bulk cargo transported by rail to Poland decreased significantly. In 2025, the number of grain railcars delivered to Poland dropped by 77%. Despite this, the Polish Baltic Hub in Gdańsk remains structurally critical for the Ukrainian container market.
• Aviation: The sector suffered a collapse (from 16.2 million passengers in 2021 to 480,000 in 2024) and transformed into an export model of aviation services through charters and wet leasing.

The report recommends that the governments of both countries and the European Union prioritize creating a level playing field by harmonizing road transport rules, accelerating rail market liberalization, and combating institutional corruption.

For the private sector, the expected shift from road to intermodal transport opens up a strategic “win-win” opportunity for joint investments in cross-border logistics hubs and terminal infrastructure, provided that regulatory predictability and data-driven border management are ensured.

About the Project:

The report was prepared within the framework of the joint Ukrainian-Polish research project “Common Future. Poland and Ukraine in the Single European Market,” implemented by the Warsaw Enterprise Institute and the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER). The project is dedicated to analyzing Ukraine’s transport integration into the EU and its consequences for the Polish transport and logistics sector, funded by the Open Society Foundations and the International Renaissance Foundation.

Authors: Sandra Baniak-Stachowiak, Iryna Kosse, Anastasiia Kropova, Anastasiia Myropolska, Łukasz Wójdyga, Stanislav Yukhymenko.

Media Contact: shkarpova@ier.kyiv.ua