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Romanian Road Transporters Ask To See PM, Threaten With Protests

Several tens of road transporters on Monday gathered in front of the Romanian government building in Bucharest requesting a meeting with Premier Calin Popescu Tariceanu over their demands.
Romanian Road Transporters Ask To See PM, Threaten With Protests
12 mai 2008, 10:30, English
The transporters threatened with large protest actions on the Bucharest beltway, unless the premier receives them. 
 
 “(…) we cannot wait for another delay,” said Augustin Hagiu, president of the Federation of Road Transporters, or FORT.
 
The road transporters ask, among others, for elimination of the road toll, cheaper fuels and upgraded road infrastructure.
 
Mid April, the road transporters organized marches in Bucharest and 18 other cities nationwide, protesting against the government’s measure to collect the road toll twice – on national roads and highways, respectively. The transporters said Romania is the only country in EU that collects the tax twice, as all the other member states demand the tax for highways alone.
 
Transportation Minister Ludovic Orban said at the time that the transporters protest over nothing, as the ministry took no action that would affect their operations.
 
He said the road toll cannot be eliminated, as it represents the only revenue source for the country’s roads authority CNADNR.
 
In addition, the transporters’ alternative proposition to include the road toll in fuel prices is not a viable option either, the minister of Economy and Finance Varujan Vosganian said in his turn.
 
He said the measure will implicitly up fuel prices and will unjustifiably tax car owners who do not use national roads frequently.