Polish Companies Will Be Compensated For Closing Border With Belarus

More than a million dollars have been allocated.

Businessmen from the communes of Kuźnica and Gródek can apply for compensation for losses from the closure of border crossings with Belarus. According to Pozirk, the corresponding resolution was signed by the head of the Podlaskie Voivodeship of Poland on May 13, Jacek Brzozowski.

According to the Press Service of the voivodeship, 5 million zlotys ($1.25 million) have been allocated for these purposes from the general reserve of the state budget until the end of the year.

Traffic at the automobile checkpoint Kuznica-Bialystocka (on the Belarusian side - Bruzgi) was stopped indefinitely on November 9, 2021, Bobrowniki (Berestowica) – on February 10, 2023 (after the regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka sentenced journalist and activist of the unofficial Union of Poles Andrzej Poczobut to 8 years in prison for a politically motivated case).

In June last year, the Polish law on state border protection was supplemented with a provision allowing businesses that operate in the same territories where closed checkpoints are located to apply for coverage for losses. A business can submit three compensation claims based on the organization's income and nine based on the number of employees.

According to the Podlaskie Voivodeship Property Management Department, 26 organizations applied for damage compensation, and 137 positive decisions were made for 8 million 145.758 thousand zlotys ($2.04 million).