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© Tsvetelina Belutova, Capital
Intercity and international bus services will come to a complete stop on Wednesday, November 25, and urban lines operated by private carriers will not be served from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., the heads of the branch associations of bus carriers and taxis announced today. Furthermore, around 100 buses and nearly 2,000 taxis will enter Sofia’s Botevgradsko Shosse, Tsarigradsko Shosse and Tsaritsa Yoana boulevards for a two-hour protest rally scheduled for 10 am at Batenberg Square.
The president of the Confederation of Bus Transporters Magdalena Miltenova explained in an information session that each businessman will decide whether to support the protest. If the threats are carried out, line 260, serviced by Eridantrans, could be affected in Sofia, the Sofia municipality told Dnevnik. MTK covers 16 suburban lines: 18, 20, 21/22, 23, 24, 24A, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31, 81, 86,117,118,119. According to the mayor’s press center, MTK has not yet announced its support for the protest actions.
The protests respond to the abolition of the criminalization of illegal transport. In late October, a majority in parliament criminalized the illegal transport of passengers under the Merchant Shipping Code, and those facing up to 10 years in prison.
The President vetoed the texts, claiming that the deputies did not specify the criteria according to which unregulated public passenger transport will be distinguished from the so-called shared ride. The BSP deputies supported him on the grounds that the punishment was too great for the act. During the re-election of the texts, these were supported only by the GERB deputies and thus the criminalization of illegal transport was eliminated.
The affiliate associations have threatened that if the texts are not sent for review, as of Monday, November 30, they will stop all shipments indefinitely. They are also ready to enter the gray sector by dropping taxes and social security contributions.
Illegal transportation under the guise of a shared ride
The problem of illegal transport has not been resolved for years, and just when it was being addressed, manipulation by institutions, including the presidential and political parties, did not criminalize illegal public passenger transport, said Magdalena Miltenova, president of the Confederation of Bus Carriers, at a press conference today. She defined as speculation the accusations that the people offering the so-called carpooling. There are serious definitions in the Road Transport Law and the new texts, which say what public passenger transport is. We did not want to frame the carpool and it would not be framed, “Miltenova said.
Georgi Atanasov, from the National Association of Bus Carriers, explained that for a transport to fall under the blows of the law, it must have an economic benefit, which is lacking in classic carpooling. However, he added that one third of the trips in the carpool groups are essentially illegal transports of the same people, with the same vehicles, on the same routes.
“It is about transporting about 1,000 people a day. That is a third of the passengers of regular buses,” he added. Atanasov also said that in the groups for shared trips abroad the proportion of illegal transport is 90%. He added that due to the neglect of the problem, up to 90 municipalities no longer have bus transportation, and passenger transport companies have dropped from 3,000 to 700.
The owner of a bus company, Sebahtin Ismail, explained that the criminalization of illegal transport is necessary because it is difficult to administratively prove this act. He also noted as a problem that people are constantly dying in such transports due to defective vehicles and drivers without the necessary qualifications.
Drugged and mentally unstable people drive to Sofia
Kiril Rizov from one of the taxi company associations drew attention to the “Maxim” service, which continues to operate in Sofia despite two decisions by the Commission for the Protection of Competition that the transport service they offer is illegal and it must cease. “8,000 people work without hindrance for this application. The state does not sanction them so that there is no social tension. All of Sofia knows what the application is, who is behind it, how the money goes to the accounts in Cyprus, the services are informed , but it works”. Rizov added.
Evgeni Benevrechki from the Federation of Taxi Drivers added that many of those who work for the app are mentally unstable and addicted to drugs. “I saw them in Student City. They draw a line (drug) on the board and go to another direction,” he added. According to Benevrechki, if there is good will, it is essential to catch illegal carriers. It was enough to send undercover clients to the Russian Monument and the Student City.
“We do actions, we capture them, we hand them over to the police, and the police say that nothing can be done. Minutes are drawn up and that’s it,” he described the situation.
The new sanctions were directed against the organizers
Kiril Rizov explained that even now the penalties for illegal transport are severe: a fine of BGN 13,000 for the first offense and BGN 33,000 for the second. The authors were also threatened with imprisonment if article 324 of the Penal Code, relating to the exercise of a profession or trade without adequate legal capacity, was applied, but the cases were difficult to prove. As a plus of the new texts, Rizov pointed out that they are aimed at the organizers of illegal transport, and not so much at those who carry them out.
Ivaylo Pavlov of the National Union of Transporters pointed out that the problem of illegal transport has been going on for 20 years, but in the last 10 years it has literally crushed the transporters.
Sava Komitov from the Taxi Trade Unions Association threatened that if no action is taken, legal haulers will start driving like illegal ones, without paying taxes, licenses, driver’s licenses, etc.
