site.btaRoad Hauliers and Bus Carriers Threaten Protests on April 27 Over High Fuel Prices

Truck and bus companies are threatening nation-wide protests over the high fuel prices. The plans were announced at a news conference here Tuesday by eight organizations in the bus and truck transport sector. 

Yordan Arabadjiev, chairman of the Union of International Carriers, summed up the demands. They want the requirement for a bio-component to be scrapped for six months, which would lower the price of fuel by some 0.10-0.15 leva/l, and the excise duty for fuel lowered by a half for six months to bring down the price of fuel by another 0.33 leva/l. They also point out that due to the measures against Russia, the Ural oil is USD 35/barrel cheaper than Brent oil but this is not reflected in the price in Bulgaria. 

The carriers are also angry about what they call "manipulations" of the Regional Development Ministry that they don't want to pay for using the road infrastructure.

That was apparently a reaction to the Regional Development Ministry's plans to broaden the scope of roads for which heavy vehicles pay toll fees. The Ministry argues that trucks are widely using second-class roads in a bid to avoid paying tolls, and destroying in the process the system of second-class roads as they are not designed for heavy traffic. "The logic is that heavier vehicles pay more than automobiles and this is what we have now. But it does not mean that one should expect to collect from 85,000 vehicles more money than from 4 million automobiles," said Arabadjiev. He argued that there has been no analysis to justify the toll rates.

He was adamant that truck companies won't agree to pay toll for all second-class roads. "No European country does that," he said.

The carriers say that the government has taken no measures to deal with the high fuel prices - or if any measures have been taken, the sector has not seen their effect.

They say that they have made a number of proposals and participated in many discussions on the measures that need to be taken, which concern directly the automobile sector but nothing has come out of that.

Participating in the Tuesday news conference were the Association of Bulgarian Companies for International Carriage and Roads, the Bulgarian Association of Unions in Automobile Transport, the Bulgarian Alliance of Drivers, the European Transport Cluster, the Confederation of Bus Carriers, the Bus Carriers Chamber, the Automobile Carriers Chamber and the Union of International Carriers.