Amendments to the Road Tax: Boycott Continues?

The money raised from motorists goes nowhere.

The Ministry of Finance told what changes car owners, who pay the so-called state duty for access to the road traffic should expect. The authorities have ignored a long-proposed option - to include road tax in fuel prices. Instead, it is proposed to pay the toll monthly.

The authorities decided to change the principle when Belarusian motorists had organized a real boycott of the MOT Test. Will the situation change? Charter97.org asked the leader of the REP Trade Union Henadz Fiadynich for a comment. In the program "32 people's demands to the authorities", he calls to solve the problem with the road tax.

- The best way out for the Finance Ministry is to include the road tax in fuel prices. This is the best solution for the authorities, motorists, family budgets. I want to draw attention to the fact that it used to be like this. The road tax was once included in the price of gasoline.

Today the Ministry of Finance mentions various abuses when including road tax in the price of fuel. The question arises: "Are there none of them now"? Will everyone rush to steal diesel fuel and gasoline? This is ridiculous. You lump under a general umbrella. You cause mistrust on the part of people. It shouldn't be like that.

That's why I think motorists should self-organize and protest. One has to force the authorities to do what people want.

- Why do the officials not want to include road tax in the cost of fuel?

- It's all about money. In the current version, they raised money on the MOT Test and road tax. We do not know how this money was spent. Now, they say one can pay monthly. What is this for?

- One of the explanations of the Ministry of Finance - "if the road tax is included in fuel prices, the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs will have to pay. They are exempt from duty. Whose interests do the authorities represent in this case?

- I mean, if the KGB and the Interior Ministry do not pay the road tax, it means people pay for them. We need everyone to pay for themselves. If today is not wartime, everyone should be subject to equal conditions. If the Ministry of Internal Affairs is exempt from this duty, then the budget should allocate money for it. That's all.

- Should the road tax be exempted from MOT Test?

- Whoever started all these changes will lose the job. The loss to the budget will be greater. They have hope if the road tax is untied from the MOT Test, everyone will start to pay the tax. If it was included in the fuel prices, people would pay.

- Will the mass boycott continue?

- I am pretty sure about it. It's an ill-considered, unreasonable decision that contradicts the interests of the vast majority of motorists and their families. It would be better to consider the issue thoroughly before making any decisions. If this system used to work, why was it abandoned then? Besides, it is high time to demand a clear and transparent report for the work done: how much money was spent, which roads were repaired.

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