The activity of small passenger and parcel carriers cannot be legalized because most of these use reequipped units of transport that do not meet the security standards. Thus, they endanger the lives of passengers and other traffic participants, Deputy Minister of Transport and Road Infrastructure Sergei Bucataru said, referring to the protests mounted by the carriers, IPN reports.

According to the deputy minister, the small carriers illegally transport people and parcels as they use reequipped vehicles and do not have the certificates required for conveying passengers “As long as these carriers do not obey the technical requirements defined by the national legislation, the Ministry of Transport will continue to take steps to combat illegal passenger transportation,” stated Serghei Bucataru.

He also said that the small carriers have been subject to checks that resulted in withdrawal of license plates and fines. “All these measures are designed to improve transport services at national and international levels,” said Serghei Bucataru.

According to him, these carriers create unfair competition to the carriers that work legally, pay taxes, create jobs and pay salaries to legally employed drivers.

The deputy minister called on the small carriers to obey the legal norms and equip their vehicles in accordance with the national and international standards, to form associations and register as legal entities and work legally or to work for legally registered carriers.

During protests, the small carriers said they are ready to pay taxes and asked that their activity should be legalized.