Bus operators protest in 30 cities in Bulgaria

Bus operators in more than 30 cities in the country staged a protest on December 13 demanding effective measures against illegal transport services. Businesses are threatening to phase out bus services as of January 13th.

The protest comes now because a new budget year is ahead for all businesses and they insist on urgent changes to the Roads Act to criminalize unregulated transport services and to create a new controlling body to curb this.

Bus operators lose millions because of illegal transport services, which, combined with their obligation to serve unprofitable public lines and their inability to apply for EU funds, according to carriers, dooms their business to bankruptcy.

Carriers also demand lower tariffs when introducing the toll system, since they initially wanted to be excluded from the scope of the toll system.

Bus and coach operators insist that non-regulated services be criminalized by 13 January.

Magdalena Miltenova, Bus Carrier Confederation: Every day on the roads, people are killed in vehicles offering unregulated transport services. Passengers have no insurance in such vehicles. You have no idea if the person behind the wheel has a driving license or not.

Mehmed Recep has been a driver on Sofia-Gotse Delchev line for 30 years. And for 30 years, there have been illegal carriers, he says.

Mehmed Recep, Bus Driver: They have no documents, pay no taxes, no insurance, they do not have itineraries, pick up passengers unregulated near our departure times.

Due to illegal transport services, legally operating companies are forced to abandon lines and operate at a loss.

Higher fees from tollsystems will further burden their businesses.

Veselin Doshkov, manager of a bus transport company: Our cost will rise five times compared to those we pay for the vignette at the moment.

Bus carriers deman a rate of BGN 0,01 per km, the state offers between BGN 0,04-0,07. For an average company with 180 buses, the cost per month will go up a lot.

Veselin Doshkov, manager of a bus company: Costs would actually jump by around 30-40,000.

Regional Minister Petya Avramova commented that the problem of the bus operators was not the toll taxes, but the contracts with the municipalities for transportation on public lines, which should be updated after the introduction of the toll fees.

Petya Avramova, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works: We have complied with all the requests of the carriers, have reduced almost half the tariffs, as well as for the bus carriers, and reduced the scope of the network.