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How Belarusian Motorists Go on Strike

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How Belarusian Motorists Go on Strike

Motorists have become one of the most avid opposition activists.

A draft decree was submitted to Lukashenka for consideration, according to it the "road tax" is paid under new rules. The authorities promised new rules from April 1, but no one saw the document.

Since 2014 it's not possible to pass the MOT test without a toll receipt. Therefore, Belarusian motorists simply boycotted the MOT test. It was ignored from a quarter to half of motorists. Drivers are not in a hurry with it now.

Belneftekhim can hardly be blamed for being slow. Belneftekhim raises fuel prices weekly, turning a trip by car into a costly affair.

What to expect from the new road tax law and will it be issued? Why do Belarusian drivers boycott the MOT test? How do Belarusian drivers respond to tactics of Belneftekhim? Charter97.org asked intercity carrier from Baranavichy Uladzislau for comments:

- I'd like to say that I've heard several times that the road tax is to be untied from the MOT test. It was promised to do it from April 1.

As you can see, nothing's changed yet.

As an individual entrepreneur (IE).

I'd like to stress that the new draft law provides no easing. It has already been officially announced.

As for personal transport, I do not rush to pass the MOT test.

A lot of people I know have ignored it before. After all, it's often cheaper to pay a fine than to constantly pay for the test.

In addition, the MOT test is, in principle, a very questionable affair. I will explain why. Statistics show that only 2% of accidents are caused by a poor technical condition of a vehicle. The sane person will come to a maintenance station and carry out diagnostics of the car. But there is no need to make it mandatory.

If one doesn't care about one's life and one keeps driving a defective car, this is not a driver but a self-killer. If the number of accidents caused by vehicle defects equaled to 30%, one could say that there's a need for mandatory MOT test.

But the state has turned this test in an additional way to raise money.

- What is the amount of a fair road tax?

- The best option is to include it in the price of gasoline. I see no other ways for fair taxation. This would solve a complete idiocy we have in the form of "maximum weight" the toll depends on.

Today we're just asked to pay the road tax as a separate item. Does it make any difference to me?

Moreover, road infrastructure belongs to the country. We are the transit country. Why can't the authorities, who earn billions of dollars at the location of our country, take responsibility for our roads? They simply do not consider Belarus their native country. As Spanish colonizers felt in South America. The main thing is profit. Belarusians can also drive unpaved roads, can't they?

Every day mass-media releases stories about asphalt laid in a dirt and snow, pits are covered with bricks. Tell me, am I the richest person in the world?

- How would you comment on the gasoline price increase?

- A similar story with the cost of gasoline we have here. Our country is a real oil emirate. Half of Europe uses gasoline produced here. Couldn't we impose a moratorium on these prices? I know that we don't have our own oil deposits, but for a long time we bought it at penny in Russia, came up with schemes for importing finished oil products to profit from our own.

All the energy is wasted on it.

People living in Drazdy are a group of smugglers, crooks. Not for nothing, our country has become a reason for jokes and jokes about "Belarusian caviar and shrimps".

With such refining capacity, it was possible to distribute gasoline to people for free or to introduce a token payment. But we are dealing with people in offices.

- How do you like the new tactics of Belneftekhim, when fuel prices rise almost every weekend?

- The new tactic is like the Chinese torture, when every minute a drop of water falls on your forehead. I queued several times a day before the petrol price went up. So, each time these queues are more and more discontent.

It's not about this one-kopeck price growth.

We are again treated like fools; they think this kopeck growth does not make a difference. This attitude is outrageous, they think they have fooled us. But I rush to upset Belneftekhim, it's mistaken. People remember everything and do not forget anything. Belarusians know how to count money.

- Is a car a vehicle or a luxury item in Belarus today?

- Today, a car is becoming a huge burden. I'm in transport and I can feel it. I once had four minibuses, but today I have two. First, the authorities pressed us down with the law on "regular carriers", today they kill us with rising gasoline prices.

When a person drives a Maybach, he doesn't care much about gasoline prices and the road tax. And roads from Drazdy to Minsk are of great quality.

You know, motorists are some of the most avid opposition activists. Drivers curse Lukashenka at every gas station and maintenance station.

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