Most of the regular routes in the country were suspended as part of the protest announced by carriers. These said that only concrete solutions on the part of the authorities can make them stop the protest.

Contacted by IPN for a comment, chairman of the Employers Association of Road Transport Operators (APOTA) Oleg Alexa said the exact number of suspended routes is not known at present. “According to our information, by one route is available in some of the districts where the carriers joined in. We are updating the data, but the protest is held as we planned,” noted Oleg Alexa.

According to him, there witnessed particular threats on the part of the authorities, but the carriers didn’t give up. “The Ministry, regrettably, does not make any effort to solve the problems somehow. The Ministry is concentrated on the fight against us and combines forces with illegal carriers for the purpose. “Gările Auto” controlled by Vîlcu and Andronache support the minister the most and even threatened carriers to abandon the protest. This is a very dangerous alliance,” stated the chairman of APOTA.

Until now, the discussions with the authorities centered on the problems faced in the field, not yet on solutions to them. The carriers wait for decisions and during the next two days will act depending on what decisions are taken.

The carriers announced that the national regular routers will be suspended on February 7, 8 and 9 in protest after they didn’t receive a response to their request to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development to present real calculations for the tariffs for transportation services and bus station services.

In 2009, there was approved the tariff of 0.38 lei/km, in 2013 – of 0.48 lei/km, while in 2019 – of 0.60 lei/km.